Our food tour in Tokyo area begins at a depachika to experience one of Tokyo’s incredible department store food halls, where food pays tribute to both tradition and the newest trends. Making our way past highly prized pickles, fruit fit for a king and the aisle of Japanese junk food, we arrive at the sushi bar of choice among locals. Along Kichijoji’s bustling shotengai shopping street, we’ll rub elbows with locals as they shop for daily needs, learning about the basics of Japanese cuisine and tasting some of them, such as skewers of yakitori and octopus balls prepared and served street-side. We’ll meet three generations of a family of artisanal senbei makers working side by side in their tiny shop and atelier and, further down the road, we’ll visit a restaurant dedicated entirely to miso. We’ll sample unusual food rarely served outside Japan, such as sake infused with the fin of fugu, the famous puffer fish, plus expertly-crafted old standbys like tea and sweets.