Cooking Classes in Japan

Tokyo has the widest choice of classes in English. Sushi is the most popular: you learn to cook and season the rice, slice fish and roll maki and nigiri, then eat the results. Prices range widely, from about 5,000 yen for a short rolled-sushi class to well over 15,000 yen for small groups with premium fish. Other studios teach ramen from the broth up, gyoza, tempura, bento and character bento, and wagashi, the seasonal sweets served with tea.

Many sushi classes start with a guided walk through the Tsukiji Outer Market, where the wholesale market moved to Toyosu in 2018 but the retail stalls stayed. Go early, as many stalls close by early afternoon. In Asakusa, soba-making classes teach you to knead buckwheat dough, roll it and cut it with a heavy noodle knife, and nearby Kappabashi, the kitchenware street, has shops selling knives and workshops where you can make the plastic food models seen in restaurant windows.

Kyoto classes lean toward home cooking: dashi, miso soup, rolled omelette, simmered vegetables, often in a private home or a converted townhouse with four to eight students. The usual format is a morning tour of Nishiki Market, the 400 m covered food street in the city centre, followed by a class where you cook what you have seen. Expect about 7,000 to 15,000 yen for the class and a few thousand more for the market tour.

Osaka is the city of kuidaore, eating until you drop, and its classes teach the street food. In a takoyaki class you pour batter into a dimpled hot plate, add octopus and flip the balls with skewers; okonomiyaki classes teach the Osaka version, with everything mixed into the batter. Many food tours walk through Dotonbori and Kuromon Market, and our Osaka food guide covers where to eat after class.

Hiroshima okonomiyaki is layered rather than mixed, with cabbage, noodles and egg built up on the griddle, and several places in the city run classes. The Hiroshima food guide covers the best places to eat it. East of the city, the sake town of Saijo has several breweries within walking distance of the station, with tastings and an annual sake festival in October.

In Kagawa on Shikoku, the Nakano Udon School in Kotohira sits at the foot of the steps to Kotohira-gu. Classes take about 50 minutes, or 80 with a meal, and need at least two people. Takamatsu is the base, an hour by train from Kotohira.

In Nagano, soba-making classes in the mountain villages around the city use local buckwheat. Shizuoka, which grows a large share of Japan’s green tea, has tea farms with views of Mount Fuji where you can pick and roll leaves in spring. In Fukuoka, food tours visit the yatai street stalls along the river at night; see our Fukuoka food guide. In Kanazawa, workshops let you apply gold leaf to sweets and chopsticks, and in Sapporo the Sapporo food guide covers miso ramen and the seafood markets.

Book popular classes a few weeks ahead, especially in spring and autumn, when Kyoto fills up. Most classes are small, so tell the school about allergies or a vegetarian diet when you book; dashi stock is usually made from fish, so ask for a kombu or shiitake version. Many classes do not run on weekends or during Golden Week and the New Year holidays.