I’m embarrassed to say that, when I first went to Japan, I wasn’t prepare for how diverse Japanese food was. I’d mainly been acquainted with the traditional mainstays that have become popular in the West – sushi (American style, naturally), ramen, and udon. I knew little about the mainstays of traditional Japanese food (washoku; 和食). And I had no idea that Japan also had a rich culture of yoshoku (洋食), or Western food.
After a few years of visiting the country and making friends, I decided to start my own Japanese-language Instagram account. Instagram’s popularity in Japan makes it easy to make new friends via the platform – as well as to enjoy some wonderfully sinful pictures of Japanese cuisine at its finest.
Eventually, as I found other users and began to dig into their posts, I discovered the hashtags that Japan’s food and drink bloggers regularly use to brag about what they’re stuffing down their gullets. Below are some of the most popular tags, including representative samples from each category. While some Japanese Instagrammers post in English, most post in Japanese, so if you want to read what they’re saying and you don’t know Japanese, you may need to crack out Google Translate.
Or, just sit back and enjoy the food porn. “Delicious” as a visual needs no translation.
1. おうちごはん (o-uchi gohan) – “Home Cooking” (9M+ posts)
Perhaps the most popular food tag on Japanese Instagram, o-uchi gohan celebrates the hard work and devotion that goes into making a spectacular meal for you and the ones you love.
This is one of my favorite Instagram tags. Traditional washoku serving methods consist of creating a large number of small dishes, which can then be artfully arranged on a table or on each person’s serving tray. The result is some truly photo-ready food that will leave your mouth watering. For example, this beautiful spread by user chiori.m.m that features salmon roe onigiri (イクラおにぎり), minced chicken wrapped in beefsteak plant leaves (大葉巻きつくね), rolled egg with imitation crab and onions, and spinach, bacon and corn sauteed in butter, along with other delicacies.
You can also find some great “how to make” videos in this hash tag – such as this tutorial on making mentaiko (pollack) with a mayonnaise filling.
2. お弁当 (o-bentou) – “Lunch Box” (7.8M+ posts)
I don’t need to tell you about Japan’s lunch boxes, do I? As with washoku in general, lunch boxes in Japan typically include not only rice, but a number of smaller dishes that are designed not only to be healthy, but to add color and variety to a meal. Some people, particularly parents, go out of their way to create designs that are not just meals, but works of art.
Instagram poster m.o.a.y.510, for example, showed people how it was done recently with a Snoopy made out of rice and a Woodstock made from scrambled eggs.
2a. 嫌がらせ弁当 (iyagarase bentou) – “Harassment Lunch Box” or “Revenge Bento” (7.8K posts)
Okay, this isn’t a “top tag” of Instagram, but the concept is so funny, I just can’t pass it by.
In recent years, a blogger named tkkk (real name: Kaori) gained fame by taking pictures of “revenge bento” – frightening and/or threatening lunch boxes she began making for her daughter, who’d entered her rebellious years and was being a true pain in the ass. The idea took off, and other people began sending pictures of their “harassment lunches” they’d given to their kids and/or significant others.
While no an extremely popular hash tag, you’ll still occasionally see amusing posts on this topic on Instagram. For example, user emiemiriichi decided “for no reason” to remind her husband one day of his duty to stay faithful by using strips of dried nori (seaweed) to make her intention clear: 浮気したら殺す (“if you sleep around, I’ll kill you”). To drive her point home, she even fashioned a little knife.
If that didn’t slake your thirst for harassment lunches, check out this truly horrifying compilation video from YouTube to see just how creative a pissed-off spouse/parent can get.
3. 麺スタグラム (men-sutaguramu) – “Noodle-gram” (1.4M+ posts) and 3a. ラーメン (ramen) – 7.4M+ posts
Man cannot live on noodles alone…said no one, ever. Japan’s vast variety of men (麺) – from tsukemen-dipped udon to delicious soba to delectable soups like ramen – make it a culinary haven for carbohydrate-hungry chowhounds the world over.
So, naturally, this special category of food gets its own Instagram tag – “men-stagram” – where foodies post pictures of all sorts of noodle dishes. Those of you looking for straight-up ramen porn, however, can surf the more popular ramen hashtag, where you’ll find variations on the dish that will tempt you to book a flight leaving tomorrow for Haneda.
My current personal fave pic is this one from user ramen_daichiyan from Holland-Ken (オランダ軒), one of Saitama City’s most famous ramen shops, who snapped a pic of the shop’s chashumen (チャーシュー麺; noodles with sliced pork) that was served up with a double serving of ajitsuke-tamago (味付け玉子), a soft-boiled egg marinated in soy sauce that is, without a doubt, the best part of a bowl of ramen.
4. お好み焼き (okonomiyaki) – Japanese Savory Pancake (1M+ posts)
While I do love a great bowl of ramen, okonomiyaki just might be my favorite Japanese food. A light, savory dish made with flour, eggs, and any number of vegetable and meat combinations, and slathered with a semi-sweet vegetable sauce and mayonnaise, okonomiyaki exists in countless variations unique to specific regions of Japan.
What’s more, a well prepared okonomiyaki can be a thing of beauty. I mean, check out what user m.f.k.0105 managed to do with an artful application of mayonnaise.
5. 日本酒 (nihonshu) – Japanese Sake (3.3M+ posts)
My love for Japanese sake is well documented. When I first started to appreciate sake as a hobby, however, I had a hard time discerning which brands I should try. Instagram has been a lifesaver in this regard. With craft sake enjoying a new boom of popularity, Insta is chock full of pics from other sake lovers sharing snaps not only of established classics, but of newcomers who are making a name for themselves.
Naturally, both izakaya (small plate shops that often sake) as well as sake manufacturers themselves have gotten into the Instagram act. One recent post comes from the Naohiko Noguchi Research Center, one of the great living masters of sake who specializes in a brewing method called yamahai (山廃), which doesn’t use a rice mash starter. Noguchi’s brewery, recognizable by its distinctive spiral label, just announced its 70th anniversary edition sake, and posted pictures of the beautiful bottle:
And hey – if you’re wondering whether their sake is safe to drink, do not fear: the Noguchi Center has taken all necessary precautions, up to having their brewing process blessed by a Shinto priest.
Go Forth and Click (and Drool)
This list is by no means exhaustive. There are hash tags for pretty much every food you can think of, including karaage (fried chicken), hot pot (nabe), and on and on. Pick your favorite starting point, and introduce yourself to a whole new culinary world.
