My kids knew just enough about Japanese cuisine and pop culture to be super excited to study Japan! We are big fans of sushi, mochi ice cream, Studio Ghibli, and Pokémon - just to name a few. It also has close cultural ties with Taiwan (where my mom is from) and Korea (where my husband lived for two years). It is definitely on our travel bucket list!
Video List
- Geography Now! Japan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3XpfBChLyk
- Geography Now! Flag/Fan Sunday, Japan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1nhAnMQBHg
- Geography GO! Tokyo Japan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GWjNO2X3qw - the host of Geography Now has a 22 hour layover in Tokyo and meets up with some of his viewers (Geograpeeps) to tour some of the highlights of the city
- Geography Now! Prefectures of Japan: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vGgRKaQQvuk
- BuzzFeed - American & Japanese People Swap Snacks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyMPbExnJr4 - these aren't the most educational, but there is a reason they are popular on YouTube - kids love them! And they are kind of fun. :)
- 15 Japanese Snacks and Drinks: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6k2LvnhMJM - random assortment of foods gathered at a Japanese supermarket, but fun to see the variety of flavors and what they look like
- Miso & Easy https://www.worldmarket.com/product/miso-and-easy-original-broth.do
- Japanese Rice Crackers https://www.worldmarket.com/product/amanoya-himemaru-japanese-rice-crackers.do
- Hello Panda caramel https://www.worldmarket.com/product/meiji+hello+panda+caramel+cookies+snack+size.do
- Cranberry Almond Kit Kat https://www.worldmarket.com/product/nestle+kit+kat+cranberry+almond+wafer+bars+bag.do
- Kasugai Fruit Gummies https://www.worldmarket.com/product/kasugai-fruit-gummy-candy-assortment-2c-set-of-12.do
The rice crackers were super yummy and a surprise hit with the kids. We also found out that Japan has over 200 different flavors of Kit Kats, with about 40 of them being available at any given time on the market. We watched a couple of videos of people trying different Japanese Kit Kat flavors, but none that I feel I can recommend without reservation.
We used the Miso & Easy paste to make miso soup and homemade sunomono (using my mom's recipe) to eat with a chicken teriyaki dish my husband made (super simple recipe he found in a recipe's comments section - sorry for not having a link!).
Later, we also had another dinner from Sapporo Sushi and Asian Fusion, a local restaurant recommended to us by some friends who love a good deal on sushi. We had a couple of the shrimp tempura appetizers, two jazz rolls (avocado, eel, crab stick topped with crunchy crumb and eel sauce), and two two otaru rolls (avocado, tuna, and salmon). Add in some brown rice and mochi ice cream we picked up at HEB, and you have a fantastic meal!
We thought we were done after that, but then I saw one of the snacks featured in the Buzzfeed video above for sale at our local HEB - the Popin' Cookin' sushi candy kit! Although the taste of the candy isn't anything particularly special, my kids had a lot of fun making everything, and it looked pretty great!
