In the summer of 2022, the Japanese government finally allowed tourists to return after shutting the border for more than two years in an effort to contain the spread of COVID-19. Those border closures, while necessary, had a big effect on tourism in Japan, and crippled establishments that relied on foreign visitors for their livelihood. But not only did it affect the Japanese economy, but it also had a big impact on globalization and international exchange. Very few Japanese left the country, and even fewer foreign visitors set foot in Japan. The number of students studying abroad decreased by 99% in 2020, and with online exchange programs and YouTube, many people started to wonder if it was even necessary to go abroad at all. Many people worried about the future of globalization in Japan.

It seems that fear was unfounded. Now, with the Japanese borders completely open, visitors are entering Japan at an amazing rate. Those involved in inbound tourism are perhaps breathing the biggest sigh of relief. Japanese language schools, tourist areas, and restaurants, are gradually working their way back to pre-COVID levels. I recently checked out a cooking and culture class in Fukuoka that caters to visitors from overseas—a class that is finally back in action after a very long hiatus.

This cooking class, called Japanese Mother’s Cooking Class, is run by Atsuko Kuga, a lovely lady teaching the class out of her home in the Befu area of Fukuoka City, just a short distance from the city center of Tenjin. I attended the class on a Sunday morning with my daughter. Since we are both fluent in Japanese we took the class mainly in Japanese, although Ms. Kuga almost always conducts the class in English.

It is a four-hour long class, complete with cooking a full-Japanese meal, eating the meal after completion (and lots of photo taking), learning how to make matcha green tea, and wearing a traditional Japanese yukata . Visitors can choose from the A and B course. The A course is centered around chicken teriyaki and tempura, and the B course is sushi based. Vegan and Gluten Free courses are available for those with special dietary needs.

The day begins with Ms. Kuga meeting her students at Befu station, from which she takes them to a nearby supermarket. She told me that her purpose is two-fold. Of course, the main purpose is to buy the ingredients to make the dishes in the class, but rather than her doing it in advance, she thinks it would be a good cultural experience for the students to experience a Japanese supermarket. When my daughter and I went with her, it was right before the beginning of the Obon holidays in August. She started off the supermarket trip explaining the various flowers, plants and offerings used during the Buddhist holiday. Although I have lived in Japan more than 20 years, since I have never been in a Japanese house during the Obon season, I admit that I did not know what flowers were used or what was placed on the altar. This is the kind of experience that I appreciated, and I am sure that visitors to the cooking class would too. It was this kind of cultural information that makes Ms. Kuga’s class unique and special.

Shopping with Ms. Kuga

Ms. Kuga then proceeded to teach us about various kinds of Japanese seasonal fruits and vegetables. Visitors to Japan are always shocked by the huge variety of mushrooms, eggplants and other vegetables. She explained what was in season, where the produce is grown, and how it is used in cooking. She also wants the students in her class to explore the supermarket on their own, look for something that interests them, and try it. Her goal is not only for students to cook and eat Japanese food, but to enjoy the entire food experience. For our class, we bought watermelon since it is in season and a popular summer dessert in Japan.

Shopping for supplies!!

We then left the supermarket and headed to Ms. Kuga’s home to get started. After unloading our supplies, we put on our aprons and went to work.

Our first dish was Dashi Tamogoyaki. Tamagoyaki is the Japanese version of a fried egg, and it can be seen both on the breakfast table in bento lunches. This one was made with dashi soup stock to make it moister than usual tamagoyaki.

Making Dashi Tamagoyaki

Ms. Kuga told me that making tamagoyaki is one of the most challenging things that participants in the class face. Pouring the just right amount of egg mixture into the pan, and then rolling it up with chopsticks without it falling apart is a significant learning curve even for many Japanese. She helps students get a beautiful-looking tamagoyaki by using a sushi rolling mat, yet another brilliant idea from this creative cooking master.

The next dish was chicken teriyaki, which is probably one of the best-known Japanese cuisines in the West. We started off by making the homemade teriyaki sauce, which we then put aside until after the chicken was fully cooked. She taught us some secrets to making a good chicken teriyaki (secrets which of course I can’t write here!), and then when the meat was done, we poured our delicious homemade sauce over it and simmered it on low heat until it was ready.

Chicken Teriyaki Masters!!

After that, we made homemade miso soup. Miso soup is one of the main staples of the Japanese diet and makes an appearance at most Japanese meals. The soup we made was with homemade dashi broth made from dried bonito flakes. Although I usually make my own miso for miso soup, I confess that this was the first time I made homemade dashi broth, and it was amazing! The ingredients used in the miso soup vary from family to family and day to day, but for our soup we used tofu and seaweed.

Next was the tempura. Along with chicken teriyaki, tempura is perhaps one of the most popular Japanese foods overseas. The tempura was the main course of the meal and it was a winner. We used traditional tempura ingredients such as shrimp, eggplant, pumpkin, mushrooms, and shiso leaf, along with Ms. Kuga’s original creations, avocado and banana tempura-two things that I have never in my life thought to try as tempura. But as avocado is one of my favorite foods in the world, I couldn’t wait to try it. And it was off the charts amazing!

Preparing the vegetables for tempura

Check out the avocado tempura on the right!

The final dish to be prepared were the onigiri rice balls. We used mentaiko as the main ingredient. Mentaiko is cod rod, and it a specialty of Fukuoka.

With our huge meal completed it was time to eat! When I looked at it all on the table, I was like, “This is for ONE person?” That is how much food there was. A mountain of tempura. A huge chicken teriyaki dinner. A plate of rice balls. A pot of miso soup. A plate full of tamagoyaki. Not to mention the overflowing plate of watermelon waiting for us as dessert.

Tada!! The finished masterpiece!!!

It was an amazing meal taught to us by an amazing cooking teacher. While my teenage daughter was able to consume her whole meal, I had to take some leftovers home. Ms. Kuga prepared a nice takeout bag for me, and sent us home with all the leftover rice, tempura, and watermelon. There was so much food that I was able to feed my family of five dinner that night. She also sent us home with the recipes for all the foods we had made written in English so we could try to make the dishes again.

After this huge meal, Ms. Kuga taught us to how to make matcha green tea. Using the brush to whip the tea is not nearly as easy as it looks, but after about one minute and a lot of effort, the tea was ready. She gave us a traditional Japanese red bean paste confectionary to enjoy with the tea.

Making matcha green tea.

If participants request to wear Japanese yukatas, this can also be included in the class. I would recommend this as visitors don’t often get the chance to wear traditional Japanese clothing.

I asked Ms. Kuga how she got into teaching cooking classes to visitors from overseas. She told　me that when her own children were younger, she hosted some students from New Zealand. Her kids then became interested in various cultures and English. She started teaching cooking classes in 2017. While Ms. Kuga is not a fluent English speaker herself, she always finds a way to communicate with the students in her class. By using simple English phrases, an easy cooking vocabulary, and a lot of gestures, she and her students have the time of their lives in the Japanese Mother’s Cooking class. But Ms. Kuga’s enthusiastic spirit and contagious smile is the biggest communication tool of all. It communicates a love for people, a passion for Japanese food, and desire to share that passion with others.

With Ms. Kuga

As I talked to Ms. Kuga, I could feel her excitement and passion to share Japanese food culture with the world. Like many others, she was forced to cancel her cooking classes for the majority of the COVID-19 pandemic, but now she is back and ready to share her enthusiasm with others. I, for one, had a great time, and would recommend this class to anyone visiting the Fukuoka area. It is a great value for the money, because you are not learning just to cook a meal, but you are treated to an entire cultural and culinary experience.

B Course Sushi

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