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Ma-suya – a Salty Heaven in Azabu Juban

Posted by Fran Kuzui

I used to wonder about my salt obsessed friends. Why didn’t they worry about high blood pressure and hypertension? Instead, there didn’t seem to be a meal during which they didn’t fret over which salt to best lavish on what. And then, it happened to me. It began with flakes, progressed to powdered varieties; pink, crystal forms from far-away lands; deep sea — including the widely-revered Maldon flakes; and eventually, a romance with more exotic flavors such as truffle infused… Read more »

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Iya Valley – A Glimpse of Lost Japan

Posted by Michiyo Nakamoto

Soaking in a pool of hot spring water just a couple of meters above a river, engulfed in darkness and surrounded by the sound of water and faintly rustling trees is a wonderful way to commune with nature. But in Iya Valley, on the island of Shikoku, the hot springs around the Iya River lie deep at the bottom of a rocky gorge, which makes them fairly inaccessible to all but the most determined of bathers. Not to worry. Hotel… Read more »