A Tokyo restaurant has a mission to help fishermen and farmers win back trade lost after the tsunami and nuclear meltdown The laughter coming from diners in a corner of Kenji Suzuki's restaurant is flowing as effortlessly as the beer. The chatter cuts through the steam drifting from a nabe, or hotpot, in the centre of the table. There is talk of work, and praise for the chicken, vegetables and tofu being transferred to bowls from the bubbling stock. Their exuberance is unusual, not just because the working week is only a day old, but because every dish is made with produce many Japanese have s ..read more

Japan is famed for its elaborate fine dining, but tough economic times means that street-food culture is flourishing in cities such as Kyoto and Tokyo In tomorrow's Guardian: street food around the world – and where to find it in the UK My eighth amuse bouche arrived in a porcelain bowl that looked like it belonged in the British Museum. The "potage of Kyoto red carrot in the image of New Year's rising sun" was from a 17-course kaiseki menu – the haute cuisine of Japan, derived from the elaborate 16th-century rituals of the tea ceremony. The highly-formalised style has been an inspiration to ..read more

One of Japan's best foodie destinations is the Maruhachi Ryokan, hidden away in the tiny mountain village of Maze, near Takayama. Rebecca Milner makes the culinary pilgrimage The Japanese clearly value tradition, yet for one reason or another – fire, natural disaster, the second world war, an enthusiasm for progress – there aren't many towns left that truly encapsulate the way things were. Kyoto has its temples, but in between them is a thoroughly modern city. Takayama is different – an old castle town in the mountains of central Japan. You can still see the ruins of the 17th-century castle in ..read more

Omoide Yokochō - Memory Lane - developed as the eating quarter after the second world war. David Levene checks out old school Japanese delicacies such as salamander, loach and viper wine. It's all good for the stamina ..read more

Salaryman Kuzuhara-san leads Chris Michael on a tour of the hidden Tokyo where an army of office workers get to let off steam at the end of the working day • As featured in our Tokyo city guide Dressing like a salaryman is harder than it looks. There's a certain scuffed quality to the black lace-up dress shoes, a particular worn-out shine to the black suit, a type of anonymous silver watch and fraying black briefcase that you can't fake. There's just no tie like a ¥100 (£1) tie. Later in your career, as you rise up the hierarchy, you can mix it up a bit. For instance, you can go brown. The be ..read more

Only in Tokyo can you sample the finest sashimi from a skyscraper, try tofu beside a carp pond or taste tempura under an oversized fedora. Robbie Swinnerton picks the best upmarket restaurants • As featured in our Tokyo city guide No other restaurant in Tokyo has a setting to rival Kozue. Perched far above the fray on the 40th floor of the Park Hyatt, Kozue is still as swish as the day it opened in 1994, with a contemporary look (soaring ceiling, stylish tables and chairs) to match the confident modern inflections on kaiseki (japan's version of haute cuisine). The menu features torafugu puffe ..read more

Whether you fancy sushi, noodles or top tempura, it's easy to find good, cheap restaurants in Tokyo, says Robbie Swinnerton • As featured in our Tokyo city guide In a city that has celebrated the understated flavour of soba (buckwheat noodles) for centuries, no restaurant is as revered as Kanda Yabu Soba. Founded more than 100 years ago, it's a handsome, free-standing wooden villa in its own tranquil garden courtyard with the feel of a traditional tea house. Kimono-clad waitresses bustle about, ferrying food and drink from kitchen to table (either with chairs or on tatami mats). Locals prefer ..read more

Been there readers offer their top tips on which markets to visit, from sampling Finnish delicacies in Helsinki to avoiding the crowds in Barcelona's Mercat de St Antoni This market has been selling Finnish delicacies to locals and tourists for more than 120 years. Look out for berries, game and seafood. It's a great place for meeting friends over a cup of coffee and a cinnamon bun. Or try fried reindeer slices with potato mash and lingonberry sauce followed by oven-baked cheese with Arctic cloudberries and cream. Most importantly: stock up on sausages and beer for an evening of sauna, skinny ..read more

Amid the neon blur of Tokyo, Japan’s whisky culture is flourishing, with dozens of specialist bars offering a head-spinning choice of drams If there is a whisky drinkers' paradise, it is usually assumed to be somewhere in Scotland. Perhaps one of those remote distilleries where you can taste the landscape in the glass. But true connoisseurs know that the best place to drink whisky is almost 6,000 miles away, amid the neon confusion of downtown Tokyo. "There are superb pubs in Edinburgh and London serving great whisky," says Chris Bunting, Tokyo resident and author of a forthcoming book, Drinki ..read more

Ramen is Japan’s national obsession – and there more than 10,000 shops to choose from in Tokyo alone. Three local experts choose their favourites ‘Ramen doesn’t have rules the way many Japanese foods do, which means the possibilities are endless,” says Abram Plaut. “And in Tokyo people are always coming up with ideas that have never been done before.” Plaut’s fascination with the noodle soup started when he arrived in Japan to teach English a decade ago. Ramen was cheap, plentiful and, thanks to the automated ordering machines, easy. He was hooked. But his hobby became an obsession, and within ..read more