11 Mouth-Watering Japanese Street Foods You’ll Love

by Cole Lubchenko | LIFESTYLE

Before you race to Japan in search of huge street food markets, food trucks, and walk-and-eat adventures, you should know that Japan is very different from the rest of Asia when it comes to street food. Japan is a country with strict rules and customs, and eating on the street does not fit into these rules and customs. That being said, street food, in a sense, does exist in Japan, and like most Japanese cuisine, it is delicious.
A blanket rule for being a decent tourist is that if you don’t see locals doing it, it probably isn’t a good idea to do it yourself. This is how street food works in Japan, and particularly in Tokyo, where eating in the streets is not common. However, there are definitely places in Tokyo and around Japan where street food is not only allowed, but is celebrated, and if you are in one of those areas, you will know it. Whether it is the delicious fried food of Tokyo’s Yanaka Ginza, the rows of traditional yatai food stalls along Fukuoka’s Naka River, or pop up food stands at a city’s local festival, places where you can eat street food in Japan are a joy to be at.

Now that the basic street food rules in Japan are covered, let's dive into 11 Japanese street foods you might not have heard of.

1. Amezaiku

Amezaiku is equal parts street food and street performance. It is a small edible sculpture quickly made from liquid sugar. Using their hands and tools, artists shape liquid sugar as it cools into a solid. This process has to happen quickly before the sugar hardens, so it is quite impressive to watch. The candies are often multi-colored sculptures that are made to order. They can come in a variety of animal and insect shapes for the children who usually order them.

2. Agemono

Agemono is a kind of catch-all term for fried food in Japan. While some agemono isn’t suitable as street food, much of it is. On Tokyo’s Yanaka Ginza shopping street you can find a wide assortment of delicious fried food. Croquettes (fried mashed potato patties sometimes with meat), minced meat cutlets, fried skewered vegetables of all kinds, and even fried seafood. Agemono is as delicious as it is filling, especially washed down with a craft beer. If you are worried about counting calories though, you might want to try something else!

3. Takosenbei

Takosenbei is a type of senbei, or rice cracker, that contains pieces of octopus. The rice cracker is made from a paste of rice flour with pieces of octopus in it which is then pressed flat and cooked with a large high pressure press. These thin dinner plate sized crackers are served hot and the bits of octopus in them are clearly visible. If you are traveling to Japan and want to try this snack, visit Enoshima, just an hour outside of Tokyo. There is a stand on the island’s main street that will certainly have people lined up waiting to get their crispy treat.

4. Yakiimo

Yakiimo, or baked sweet potato, is one of the best winter street foods, and it can be found almost anywhere. Yakiimo is served in many convenience stores as the smell helps to draw in customers, but if you want the best yakiimo you should keep an eye out for the food trucks that cook the potatoes over a bed of hot stones. The potatoes are served piping hot and can help to keep your hands warm on a cool winter night. It might feel weird to stand in the middle of a city street eating an entire potato with your hands, but when you give it a taste you’ll soon get over it!

5. Ikayaki

Ikayaki, or sometimes ika maruyaki, is an entire grilled squid. The squid is usually cut into rings and served with soy sauce, but sometimes the squid is served on a stick. While this can be found in izakayas or as street food, it is more often found at food stalls on the beach. If you like calamari, this street food might be for you.

6. Shioyaki Ayu

Shioyaki Ayu, sometimes just called shioyaki, is an entire grilled sweetfish, which is a small variety of fish that travels between freshwater rivers and lakes, and the ocean. The fish is covered in salt, skewered, and grilled over hot coals. Except for the bones, the entire fish is consumed; that includes its head. The fish is very delicious and salty, but the belly of the fish can taste a little bitter. This food can be a bit off putting for some, but I recommend giving it a try if you come across it!

7. Oden

Oden is a dish in which eggs, fish cakes, konjac, and some root vegetables like daikon, are simmered slowly for a long time in a strong and mildly sweet dashi stock. Oden is different from a soup or stew; when you order oden you can generally choose which items you’d like and they are served with a bit of the dashi stock and spicy karashi mustard. In the winter, this warming dish is served in convenience stores, food stalls, and izakayas, but it can be a bit hard to find in the summer.

8. Jaga Bata

Jaga comes from jagaimo, which means potato, and bata, is the Japanese pronunciation of the word butter. So, you might call this food buttered potato: a baked potato covered in copious amounts of butter. You can usually find this classic yoshoku dish at summer festivals where it is served steaming hot. Beyond the basic potato and butter variety, you can find jagabata topped with miso, spicy cod roe, corn, kimchi, mayonnaise, and more.

9. Soft-serve Ice Cream

Of course ice cream is an obvious street food all around the world, but Japan does it differently. Just as all Japanese food has countless regional variations, so does the ice cream. If a particular area is famous for a local food, you can bet that you’ll find ice cream of that flavor too. While this can lead to delicious sounding flavors like Hokkaido milk, Aomori apple, or Kyoto matcha, it can also lead to questionable ones like shirasu (a kind of fish), miso, or wasabi! If you are a courageous eater and a lover of ice cream, Japan is the place to be.

10. Amazake

Amazake is a lightly alcoholic beverage (less than 1% abv) made from a by-product of sake production, or from fermenting rice. It is quite thick and very sweet so it's popular with children when served warm in the winter. It has a creamy flavor with a bit of the fermented flavor of koji. It is very mild, and easy to drink for almost anyone. Not only is it delicious, but it's also quite healthy and is said to promote healthy gut bacteria. If you can’t find it at a festival, you can sometimes find it in vending machines, or at grocery stores. It is also a common addition to smoothies in Japan.

11. Taiyaki

These fish shaped pastries are one of Japan’s most famous treats, so you are sure to have heard of them, but what you might not have heard of is the huge variety of fillings you can find. The typical taiyaki is a spongy fish-shaped pastry usually filled with sweet red bean paste or custard. They are made fresh at small stands usually on the town’s shopping street. Lately, many shops have been experimenting with new fillings like tiramisu, pistachio cream, milk tea cream, caramel mont blanc, matcha cheesecake, and even beef stew. My local shop has a new flavor daily, but most shops just have a few standard ones and seasonal ones, so keep your eye out. Whatever flavor you get, it is sure to be delicious.