Destinations: Tokyo and Yanagawa-Shi, Prefecture of Fokuoka

Tokyo

Primary Need: Food

My husband, Mark, has found the following link to foods in Tokyo restaurants: http://www.bento.com/tokyofood.html

Peruvian Food in Tokyo

My husband is always looking for Peruvian food, my native country, everywhere I go. This is his latest link to Peruvian food in Japan. We have tasted Peruvian Food from my mother's kitchen, around Lima, Madrid, New York, Dallas and at our Oklahoma kitchen. Let's say that my mother's has no equal, but New York comes as second best. Yotsuya -- Romina. 3226-6608. Brilliant Peruvian food and drinks at relatively inexpensive prices. Try their vanilla flan for dessert, if you still have room. There's also a big lunch menu. (Avoid Sunday nights if you don't like big crowds.). Yotsuya 1-7-27, Central Yotsuya Bldg. 2F. Open 5-11pm. Closed Wednesdays.

As I write about my favorite subject, FOOD to eat not to cook!, I am a terrible cook, the trip is begining to be more real. I find hesitation growing in my body. Am I worthy of this wonderful honor? Will I get lost in Tokyo? What should I take as gifts for my host family in Janagawa, my school, my Japanese friends in Tokyo? I am running out of time to get my business cards done in Japanese!

Yanagawa-shi: http://www.fukuoka-tourism.net/e/other.html

From an online encyclopedia:

Yanagawa (柳川市; -shi) is a city located in Fukuoka, Japan. As of 2003, the city has an estimated population of 41,048 and the density of 1,102.55 persons per km². The total area is 37.23 km². The city was founded on April 1, 1952. It is popular with tourists, especially for the river-boats (punts), and its best-known food is eel.

Yanagawa (Yanagawa City)

A short 45-minute trip south by train from Fukuoka City, Yanagawa City is best known for the waterway that crosses it in two directions. To fully appreciate the town's aquatic charm, take a trip on one of the small boats that float gently along waterway. As the boatman deftly swings his pole, propelling the vessel forward, passengers are given a moving view of the blossoming flowers and historical monuments that dot both banks. After a one-hour trip, passengers land near Ohana, home of Shoto Park, where 280 centuries-old pines stand majestically together. In the winter, Ohana becomes a bird-watching area, with over 500 wild birds flying overhead from tree to tree. Yanagawa is also the birthplace of great poet Hakushu Kitahara, whose accomplishments are marked by a memorial park and the many stone monuments bearing his works placed throughout the city. Finally, Yanagawa is renowned for its delicious unagi (eel) cuisine, which absolutely must be sampled by out-of-town visitors.If you make the trip to nearby Okawa City, make sure to check out the Chikugo River Lift Bridge, which was Asia's largest moveable bridge at the time of construction. Today it is open to pedestrians, and is lit up beautifully at night.

From Patricia Land, and FMF participant also going to Yanagawa: http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?fv20011204a1.htm. The city sounds wonderful. I eat just about anything, but eel and duck, well let's say I have some hesitation. Yanagawa will be my teacher.