Food in Japan is a whole philosophy, where one of the most important things is the freshness of the original ingredients, as well as the beauty and taste harmony of the finished dish. For centuries, rice and its derivatives have been the mainstay of Japanese cuisine, and they remain so today. Fish for a long time was considered a luxury (and that’s why sashimi made of the freshest tuna was affordable only for very rich people), and meat in general began to be eaten on the islands only in the second half of the 19th century.

In Japan you can easily find food more familiar to Europeans – both American fast food (McDonald’s, KFC, Subway) and respectable restaurants of French or Italian cuisine.

By the way, eating at KFC in Japan is absolutely not economically justified: three tiny chicken legs there cost 750 yen, and even in Japan that is a pretty penny, for which you can have a full meal of sashimi or noodles with meat in Tokyo. In McDonalds it makes sense to go only for coffee (it’s quite decent and much cheaper than in Starbucks – 100 yen for a small size) and delicious Japanese patties sankaku with chocolate or cream filling.

In addition, McDonald’s in Japan is open 24 hours a day and can be very useful in case of a very early breakfast or a very late dinner – the other places open at 10 am and work until 10 or 11 pm for the most part.