Food Adventures in Japan: Part 6: Yasukuni Shrine street food of Japan

Beautiful cherry blossoms and the Japanese have "cherry blossom viewing picnics" in parks around Japan. This is also a time when the street vendors set up stands near Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo.

Fish (Ayu) on a stick.

Good old fried chicken, but Japanese style (a little soy marinade)

After our trip back from Atami we had lunch at McDonald's and I am not ashamed to say we enjoyed it. I knew Steve was being a good sport eating rice and fish a couple times a day so a burger and fries was a welcome break for him. McDonald's in Tokyo is so busy there is a special worker who keeps traffic flowing in the dining area. She shouts out when a seat is available to keep the people in line from rushing in. We observed the Japanese eating much smaller portions of food that what you'd see in America. A small burger and coffee--no supersized giant drinks or fries.

On to Yasukuni Shrine and the street foods. We walked around for hours and came upon the street of food vendors. I was amazed to see the different types of street foods I had not seen when I lived in Japan years ago. There was grilled corn, yakitori, oden, squid on a stick, mochi on a stick, yakisoba, okonomiyaki, hiroshimayaki (okonomiyaki with yakisoba mixed in), takoyaki, Korean chijimi, fish on a stick, sweet potatoes, fried chicken, organ meat stew, edamame, cucumbers on a stick, and hot dogs on a stick.

I love Japanese street & festival food. I wish I could have tried everything but at least I have a picture in my mind of the various foods and I had Steve take some video footage for me.

I plan to re-create as much of it as I can in the coming months. I have already made yakisoba, yakitori, okonomiyaki, and takoyaki since I've been back.

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