A bento box breakfast served at a Ryokan. Meal includes rice, salmon, vegetables, tamago (egg) yaki and ginger.

Itineraries & Activities

Gastronomy & Cultural Experiences

Food, culture and connection.
Curated by a nutritional scientist

A starbust Japanese pattern often found in Japanese woodworking

One of the best way to experience the culture is to eat your way through it with the locals!

Our hands-on cultural experiences are led by TokudAw's Managing Director, Dr. Wanping Aw — a nutritional scientist and educator at Keio University with a PhD in Biomedical Science. Every experience is designed to connect you with the health traditions and culinary culture of Japan in a way that's enriching, personal, and genuinely fun.

Click here to read about foods to try on our blog.

Part of TokudAw's Educational and Therapeutic Summer Camp programme, this experience takes you to a working organic farm where you'll learn the story behind one of Japan's most beloved traditional foods. Under Dr. Wanping's guidance, you'll explore the connections between organic farming, traditional Japanese cuisine, and wellness — before sitting down to a farm-to-table lunch and spending time with the farmers who grew it.

4 mochi balls on a stick being grilled, one is lightly roasted.

EXPERIENCE ONE

Gohei Mochi Making

EXPERIENCE TWO

Miso Making

Get your hands into the experience — literally. Traditional Miso making is one of Japan's most joyful communal activities, and pairing it with a fresh organic meal connects you to the rhythms of Japanese rural life in a way that no restaurant visit can. A grounding, tactile, and delicious way to spend a morning in a rural Japanese house. You’ll learn the science of fermentation and the secret magic of salt.

If you love Miso, pair this experience with other Miso hot-spots we recommend. Click here to learn more about the favorite Miso spots recommended by co-Founder and Nutritional Scientist, Dr. Wanping Aw.

EXPERIENCE THREE

A woman with glasses standing in a lush green hilly landscape with trees and a small creek, smiling at the camera during daytime.

Green Tea Picking

Follow the full arc of Japanese tea production — from picking the leaves yourself, to steaming, hand-rolling, and finally brewing a cup of tea you've made from scratch. The experience takes place at a 150-year-old private home, and the setting alone is worth the journey. There are few more peaceful ways to spend an afternoon in Japan. You’ll also discover how the weather and sun impacts the taste and color of the leaves.

Are you a Matcha lover? Read our guide on Japanese matcha to discover other locations to consider in your itinerary.

EXPERIENCE FOUR

Discovering the flavors of Salt and Umami

Different types of salt in jars are lined up in a row in a store located in Sky Tree in Tokyo, Japan.

Both salt and umami are signature aspects of Japanese cuisine. Discover the science behind preservation and fermentation powered by salt through visiting a museum and tasting Japanese cuisine. Let your tastebuds be your guide as you uncover your favorite salt through a guided workshop where you taste test different salts. Compare the experiences of tasting salt with the experience of Umami with a visit to a museum dedicated to the taste that was discovered in Japan.

Read more about the salt tasting experience on our blog.

Rice field in rural Japan just before dusk.

EXPERIENCE FIVE

Rice planting

Visit a local farm and assist in practicing sustainable farming, where no single part goes to waste. You’ll discover how rice is used to create mochi balls and is fermented to make Miso. Rice harvested from the partner of this experience is donated to people who are in economically difficult situations in Japan. 5kg of rice from each participant, per session, is donated to non-Japanese, currently living in Japan who are in difficult situations via official charitable organizations.

Read a bit more about the origins of our Rice Planing work

And some details about planting rice with locals for charity

A detailed PDF guide is available for download

Customer Review

"We found TokudAw Inc by searching online and we are so glad that we did. They were able to facilitate our day trip to Motegi and make our dreams reality. In addition they were able to give recommendations on what other places might be of interest, and ultimately we went to a Strawberry farm that became one of the highlights of our entire trip to Japan ( we should have known Japan would have figured out how to grow the best strawberries!)."


 - 5 star google review, from guest "TR"

Close-up of a strawberry plant with three ripe red strawberries hanging from the vine, surrounded by green leaves and unripe strawberries.

What we offer

Food & culture, thoughtfully curated

Restaurant recommendations

Michelin-starred dining, up-and-coming openings, and the local haunts that never make the guidebooks — all personally selected.

Expert-led experiences

All cultural experiences are led by Dr. Wanping Aw, whose background in nutritional science gives every experience genuine depth and context.

Farm-to-table dining

Lunches and meals sourced directly from the farms and producers you've just visited — as fresh and honest as Japanese food gets.

Cultural exchange

Structured time with local Japanese farmers, producers and artisans — not as observers, but as active participants in their world.

Health & wellness focus

Each experience is designed to illuminate the health benefits of traditional Japanese cuisine and its deep connection to wellbeing.

Fully customisable

Have a specific culinary interest in mind? We accommodate bespoke requests — just let us know and we'll build the experience around you.

Our advice on foods to consider trying

Traveling to Japan near the end-of-year holidays? Discover the Christmas foods to try

Want to eat the best sushi at an affordable price while traveling in Japan? Review our list of 11 places to try sushi (not all of them are in Tokyo)

Start Planning

Begin your culinary journey