Having nice things in Japan

‘I took a deep breath – this was truly a civilised people’

On my first full day in Japan I felt a bit queasy after lunch. I’d just had a 20-course omakase in a small restaurant where eight diners sit in L-formation watching a highly-trained chef prepare a series of delicacies; it’s one of those places you need to book some time in advance, so the chef can order the freshest ingredients from the fish market.

There is something incredibly heartening watching someone who has dedicated themselves to perfecting an artform. It takes decades to become a top sushi chef, and the result is some of the most delicate and exquisite flavours, some of which felt completely alien to me. I was like a medieval peasant who had tasted his first bag of Doritos.

In truth I’m not a big sushi fan, I prefer simpler Japanese food like ramen or chicken karaage, but I went along with a friend who’s big into this sort of thing. And, if I’m honest, some of the courses were a bit much for my western palate, in particular the baked salmon sperm. But ‘when in Rome’ and all that.