Creative take on traditional Japanese cuisine in a beautiful Tokyo home

Host offerings

House
Home cook
Pets
Vegetarian
Alcohol
Transportation
Cooking class
Market visit
Food tour

Meet Makiko

A Tokyo native, Makiko lives in a beautiful, spacious townhouse in the residential neighborhood around Komazawa Olympic Park. Makiko is a kind, warm-hearted person who loves people and hosting dinner parties for her foreign friends. Makiko values fresh, seasonal food ingredients sourced locally and uses traditional Japanese ingredients such as ume, shiso, and myoga in her dishes which render a distinctive flavor to your food. Learn about ingredients essential to authentic Japanese cooking and see how they are transformed into creative, beautiful and flavorful dishes. Makiko was one of the first people to take care of foreign families who were sent to Japan for work, a couple of decades ago. She was responsible for helping foreigners get accustomed to the Japanese way of life and introduced them to Japanese culture, customs and shopping. She is a wealth of knowledge about Japanese food and culture, and looks forward to sharing it with travelers.

What to expect

Please note menu might vary. If there are particular dishes you are interested in trying, please include your request in the booking form.

In-home meal (2 - 10 guests) Makiko will pick you up at the station in her car or a taxi and drive you five minutes to her home. You will be served a cup of refreshing tea as you sit down in her living room and hear a rundown of the menu for the day. Your Japanese feast with Makiko may include dishes such as colorful chirashi-sushi with a plethora of Japanese ingredients and tuna avocado salad on chicory leaves or sea bream sashimi and chicken teriyaki or vegetable ohitashi, steamed and marinated eggplant in miso broth and Nishiki tamago (sweet cooked egg). Your menu may vary depending on the season. Makiko’s home is child friendly and she would be happy to host little foodies!

Cooking experience (2 - 10 guests) Join Makiko in her kitchen for a hands-on cooking lesson of traditional-inspired, homemade Japanese dishes. Makiko will explain the cooking process in detail and share important tips about Japanese cooking that are not taught in recipe books. The cooking portion of your experience will take 1.5 – 2 hours depending on the number of people in your group. After the dishes have been cooked, you will sit down together at her dining table and enjoy the feast you helped prepare.

Market visit (2 - 10 guests) Makiko will meet you at Sakurashinmachi station on Tokyu Denentoshi Line. Together you will walk to a local supermarket and learn about important Japanese foods and ingredients that locals use in their everyday cooking. Makiko is an expert on Japanese cuisine so feel free to ask her anything about Japanese food and ingredients.

Notes: Please note this experience is only available on Sundays for an evening experience.

Languages spoken: #<HostLanguage::ActiveRecord_Associations_CollectionProxy:0x00007f9c6ad13040>

Sample menu

This is just a sample menu to give you an idea of the types of dishes the host cooks. Your menu will vary according to seasonal availability.

  • Miso eggplant
  • Chikuzenni, the traditional Japanese dish of chicken and vegetables cooked together
  • Vegetable ohitashi

GOOD REVIEWS
{ "trip_advisor" : [{"author_name" : "Dr. Joana", "rating" : 5, "body" : "As residents of Japan, already being aware of the richness of Japanese culture and cuisine, our experience with Makiko served to greatly exceed our expectations. She was the perfect gracious host; patient and informative. We learned so much while visiting the local shops and while preparing the evening meal. She answered many questions and expanded our awareness of the complexity of Japanese cuisine, and Japanese hospitality. It was a highly enjoyable experience.\r\n\r\nBy the way, last but not least, Makiko took great care to provide super logistical support making sure it was easy toi meet-up so everything proceeded smoothly. Also, Makiko's excellent English language proficiency added great depth to the conversation."}, {"author_name" : "Kunde vom See", "rating" : 5, "body" : "Although we booked Makiko's cooking session only a view days in advance we were lucky that she was available at this evening.\r\nWe met at a nearby train station and were led throgh the market area by Makiko. She knew a lot about the different food we were going to have for dinner and it was amazing to see all the different shops in a real Tokyo neighborhood. As tourists we would have never gone there.\r\nAfter our market experience we walked to Makikos home and felt at home at once. We could help to prepare the vegetables, fish, and the rest food was prepared together - although in some parts we were glad that Makiko was a perfect teacher and much faster than we were in cutting and preparing all the ingredients. If we had to prepare it on our own we would have been very hungry afterwards.\r\nIn the end a wonderful dinner was prepared and we had such a great time. Very different tastes could be enjoyed. Perfect! Thank you so much for the nice time we had!"}, {"author_name" : "angela f", "rating" : 5, "body" : "I booked a cooking experience via Traveling Spoon with Makiko T. of Tokyo Japan. We started the evening with tea and we discussed the recipes we would prepare. The recipes were challangeing enough to be interesting, but easy enough to recreate at home. We spent the majority of the evening cooking in which Makiko demonstrated her teaching skills as she patiently and expertly walked me through several recipes. From there we sat down to a truly delicious meal. We discussed food, Japan, family, and life, and for the first time since my arrival in Japan I felt relaxed and completely at ease.\r\n\r\nI found Makiko to be warm, generous, and hospitable, and I highly recommend booking a cooking experience with her.\r\n\r\nMakiko, If you happen to read this, thank you again."}] }

Traveler reviews

5.0 (5)
$3500.0 - $6500.0
Get Directions

Pricing (per person)*

1 person 4 people 5+ people
In-Home Meal Not offered $4,500 $3,600
Cooking Experience + Meal Not offered $5,500 $4,400
Market Tour Not offered $4,000 $3,500
Market Tour + Cooking Experience + Meal Not offered $6,500 $5,200
*Does not include 3% payment processing fee applied at checkout.

Experience Timings

Lunch Dinner
In-Home Meal 6:30pm - 08:30pm
Cooking Experience + Meal 5:00pm - 08:00pm
Market Tour 3:30pm - 04:30pm
Market Tour + Cooking Experience + Meal 3:30pm - 07:30pm

ABOUT TRAVELING SPOON

Traveling Spoon connects you with meaningful culinary experiences, from private cooking lessons to homecooked meals in people's homes. Enjoy an immersive cultural experience that gives you a glimpse into the local way of life.

FAQ

  • Cancellations and refunds
  • Contact host
  • Dietary restrictions
  • More questions