Made with fresh new ginger, gari is a crisp, peppery, and naturally pink pickle, ready for hanami and the summer meals that follow.

In Tokyo, cherry blossom season is about being present in the day as it comes.

I finished a lacquer bowl in Yamanaka.

In Yamanaka Onsen, a historic hot spring town informed by samurai aesthetics, nature, craft, and community remain central to everyday life.

At Shibakyu, a small family shop in Ohara, the Kubo family continues to make shibazuke as they have for generations, offering a deeper look into one of Japan’s most distinctive pickling traditions.

In Japan, pickles are not an accompaniment but a vegetable dish in their own right—an art of texture and tang.