29 foods you need to try if you visit Japan

Okonomiyaki are often called "Japanese pancakes" for their appearance but have nothing in common with the sweet breakfast food. They consist of pan-fried batter and cabbage combined with ingredients like meat, cheese, seafood, and wasabi.

A popular street food and Osaka specialty, takoyaki is batter-fried, grilled octopus. The dish often comes served with takoyaki sauce, mayonnaise, green laver, and dried bonito flakes.

Donburi are bowls of cooked rice topped with a number of other food combinations, including beef, pork, tempura, chicken, egg, and tuna.

Shabu shabu is a type of hot pot meal consisting of thinly-sliced meat dipped first in soup, again in sauce, and then eaten. Though traditionally served with beef, chicken and pork have recently become more common.

Onigiri are rice balls wrapped in nori seaweed served stuffed with different fillings like salmon pickled plums, and seaweed. Inexpensive and delicious, they are commonly sold in convenience stores.

Short for "omelet rice," omuraisu is fried rice wrapped in an omelet. The dish is usually eaten with tomato or demi-glace sauce.

A variety of donburi, gyudon bowls consist of beef and onion cooked in soy sauce and sake and served over a bed of rice.

Unrelated to the soba noodle, yakisoba is a fried noodle dish cooked with pork and vegetables.

Dango are chewy steamed dumplings made of rice flour, often served on a skewer. They come dipped in sweet sauce or bean paste.

Crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside, melon pan is Japanese sweet bread topped in cookie crumbs and shaped to resemble a melon.

Commonly known as pot stickers, gyoza are dumplings filled with ground meat, vegetables and other fillings like ginger, garlic and soy sauce.

Gunkanmaki, or gunkan, are small cups of nori seaweed filled with sea urchin or various types of fish eggs.

They are served as cones of nori seaweed filled with sushi rice, seafood, and vegetables.

An essential part of the Japanese diet, tsukemono — or Japanese pickles — are served alongside almost every meal. A variety of vegetables and fruits comprise tsukemono, including radish, cucumber, eggplant, plums, and cabbage.

A common breakfast dish, tamago kake gohan is a Japanese comfort food made of a raw egg mixed into a bowl of rice.

Daifuku are mochi (soft rice cakes) filled with sweet bean paste or other fillings, such as strawberry or ice cream.

Senbei are baked or grilled Japanese rice crackers that come in both sweet and savory varieties.

Udon are wheat flour noodles much thicker and chewier than soba or ramen noodles. Available in both hot and cold varieties, they are served with broth and often topped with things like tofu, egg, and tempura.

Yakitori are grilled chicken skewers cooked over charcoal. Different variations are made with different vegetables and from different parts of the chicken.

Taiyaki are warm, crispy, fish-shaped treats made of batter similar to pancake batter. They usually come filled with sweet bean paste, custard cream or chocolate.

Eaten around the world, traditional Japanese ramen outshines the packaged variety beloved by college students. The most popular types, shoyu, shio, miso, and tonkotsu, are made of different broths and include toppings like green onions, bean sprouts, egg, seaweed, and bamboo shoots.

Yakiniku, or Korean-style barbecue, is highly popular in Japan despite its foreign roots. Yakiniku-ya speciality restaurants are common throughout the country, allowing customers to cook their meals on a grill at the table.

Japan's most popular alcoholic export, sake is wine created from rice. The drink is enjoyed both hot and cold and is often locally brewed.

Natto are simply fermented soybeans. Despite being popular at breakfast tables, the dish has a reputation for being an acquired taste and is often unpopular with both foreigners and many Japanese.

Tonkatsu are thick, breaded, deep-fried pork cutlets, usually served alongside cabbage, rice, miso soup, and pickles.

Soba noodles are made of buckwheat flour and come in a variety of both hot and cold dishes. While some soba dishes are available year round, others are only eaten at special times of the year.

Tempura are battered and fried seafood and vegetables. There are endless varieties to try, including shrimp, fish, eggplant, mushrooms, and more.

Agedashi tofu is lightly breaded and deep-fried tofu served in soy sauce broth.

Thicker but less spicy than Indian curry, Japanese curry generally consists of potatoes, carrots, onions, pork or beef, and sauce made of curry powder served over rice.