Exploring Japan: Eating Balanced Breakfasts While Traveling

Our family is just home from the most wonderful trip to Japan. It was a rescheduled trip from November 2020, and we were so thankful to finally get there. The beauty of Japan and the kindness of the people are things I’ll never forget. We explored Tokyo, Hakone, and Kyoto, and although these cities are vastly different, there were adventures to be had in each one of them. We enjoyed visiting local markets, temples, and gardens, took subways and high-speed trains, walked an average of 15,000 steps a day, watched an exciting professional Japanese baseball game, experienced staying in a traditional ryokan with hot springs and ate our way through various types of Japanese cuisine. Oh, and we had pizza, twice—a much needed change of flavors and textures midway through the trip. Our family is not picky at all when it comes to trying new foods, but some of the food offered to us required adventurous attitudes that we all took in stride. Specifically, I enjoyed trying all the fermented vegetables I could get my hands on, while I passed on a loosely translated “turtle in gelatin.”

Starting Your Day with a Balanced Breakfast

Whenever we travel anywhere in the world, the one thing I try to do each day is start with a balanced breakfast. You know how important this is to me if you read this blog post a while back. While it isn’t always possible, we did have some good options most mornings. My favorite breakfast was the buffet spread at our hotel in Tokyo, where a Japanese as well as a Western breakfast was offered. It was a lovely mix of food options!

Western Breakfast in Tokyo: A Pleasant Surprise

When I read “Western breakfast” on the menu, I expected to see big metal serving dishes with large pans of greasy bacon and sausage, piles of pancakes, mounds of watery, pale-colored eggs, sugary yogurts and cereals, and unripe melon cubes. This was quite the opposite. As part of the Western buffet options, there were small plates of crisp prosciutto, made-to-order petite waffles and pancakes, little jars of homemade unsweetened yogurt, small hot trays of deeply colored scrambled eggs as well as a made to order rolled omelet, and fresh grapefruit, kiwi, and ripe melon.

The Japanese options included a lovely miso soup bar, steamed rice, cooked vegetables and greens, as well as baked fish and smoked salmon. There were baked items too, but not bagels and muffins as big as your face; small croissants, muffins, and breads. The biggest difference to me compared to the traditional Western breakfast was the lack of sugar bombs at every turn—it was easy and enjoyable to put my beautiful plate of food together for several mornings, and I had the energy level needed for our daily adventures. A balanced breakfast is always a great way to start your day, no matter where you are in the world!

Cheers,

Christina