Airbnb has certainly had enough publicity – both positive and negative – on these shores over the past few years, and the rental accommodation giant has quietly become quite the player in our beloved city. But what to do when simply staying in a local's apartment doesn't cut it, and you're looking for more ways to connect with the city?
Enter Airbnb Experiences: these local-led tours range from cooking courses to strolls around Tokyo's best music spots. We recently joined the Foodie Insider course, a two-day extravaganza which saw participants dive deep into the bowels of the capital's food scene. Our host was Ayuko, founder of the Buddha Bellies cooking school, recent cookbook author and food expert extraordinaire.
Ayuko caught up with our little group at Tsukiji Station at 7.30am and quickly led us through the outer market. Our first stop was at a tamagoyaki shop, which turns out perfectly yellow blocks of stacked omelettes with a pinch of sugar and dashi, served on a stick – great for a little snack. We then headed to a nearby nori shop to taste the differences between various qualities of dried and roasted seaweed, with the dealer prying us with six different varieties, including a few Tokyo-made ones.
After a short pit stop at the local shrine, decorated with statues dedicated to eggs, sushi, shrimp and other seafood, we made our way towards the main prize of the morning: the usually off-limits (for tourists and cameras) Tsukiji inner market, where all the fish is cut and sold to wholesalers and restaurants.
Armed with shopping baskets, Ayuko kept us informed on all the little ins and outs of what to look for while picking up her orders from local dealers, who were already finishing up for the day. At her preferred fish stall, one of the latest additions to the staff was a man in his late 60s – he'd been working at Tsukiji since his early twenties, but had only joined his current company two weeks ago.
Being able to chat with the workers definitely put a face to Tsukiji, making the vast complex feel a lot more accessible than it would have been if we were to have headed here on our own.
Although the inner market is primarily known for its fish, it's also home to an abundance of other grocers, and we popped by one of Ayuko's regulars. 'You have to be introduced to actually be able to buy from Tsukiji', Ayuko explains. 'I was introduced by a friend of mine and have been coming to these stalls ever since – I usually don't buy from other places in the market, and I tend to call ahead to make sure they have what I'd like so they can put some away for me.'
After a quick breakfast at a local restaurant – 'I tend to look for puddles outside the door as a sort of recommendation, as it means the market salesmen have been inside with their wellies', says Ayuko – we had some time to explore the outer market and to make our way towards Ayuko's cooking studio in Jinbocho.
Here we were taught how to make a few staples of home-cooked Japanese cuisine: dashi (for miso soup), makizushi, a sesame-doused spinach dish and some grilled fish. Ayuko even showed us the correct way to slice sashimi and how to present everything to create a picture-perfect table setting – we'd argue we did pretty well.
After all that action, we finally got to relax, taste the fruits of our labour and get to know the other participants a bit more. Our group was quite mixed nationality-wise, with a whole range of different occupations and reasons for being in Japan, but one thing was the same: we all liked food. After we finished, we bade our short goodbyes in anticipation of part two of the tour: lunch at a kaiseki restaurant in Ebisu the next day.
We were again welcomed at the station and guided to our final destination by Ayuko. With its very plain door and tiny sign, probably none of us would have found the restaurant, let alone dared to enter, without a bit of insider help. Once inside, we were introduced to the chef and guided through a very, very scrumptious yet delicate eight-course lunch.
Anago (conger eel), roasted bamboo, a cured miso egg yolk, and a sake lees-based ice cream were just some of the highlights of this meal, which, in typical kaiseki style, was all seasonal. Even the cutlery, crockery and garnishes used would change every few weeks to reflect all the mini-seasons that Japan has; when we were there, Hinamatsuri was around the corner, meaning that our dish was served in a clamshell (to signify, well, a different type of clam).
Throughout the meal, Ayuko was on hand to explain its intricacies, as well as kaiseki etiquette (talk to the chef and note the effort that's gone into the seasonal dishes), and answer any burning questions that we might have had. In our case, this quickly led into a discussion about how romantic relationships differ around the world – we blame the very tasty sake that was served with every dish. With a final cup of tea to finish off the meal, our tour sadly came to an end. We wish we could eat this well every day...
If you're looking to get under the skin of Tokyo's food scene, this tour is definitely a very thorough, not to mention delicious, alternative. As only six people are admitted to each course, it feels as if you're being guided by a friend of a friend rather than being shepherded around by a tour guide. For dates, availability and bookings, check out the Airbnb Experience Foodie Insider tour page.
All photos by Kisa Toyoshima