{"id":7230,"date":"2021-12-12T06:25:58","date_gmt":"2021-12-12T06:25:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eatlao.com\/?p=7230"},"modified":"2021-12-13T04:28:03","modified_gmt":"2021-12-13T04:28:03","slug":"experiencing-lao-food-in-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eatlao.com\/experiencing-lao-food-in-japan\/","title":{"rendered":"Experiencing Lao food in Japan"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
I had the chance to go on a short trip to Japan for the annual “Laos Festival in Japan<\/a>.” It took place from May 25 to 26, 2018 in Tokyo (Shibuya), Japan at the Yoyogi Park (however, I was only able to attend on Saturday the 25th). Because the Lao population is small in numbers and Lao culture is not well-known, seeing any references to Laos in Japan was totally an eye-opening experience for me. This blog post will include certain highlights around the theme of “My ‘Laos’ Experience in Japan.”\u00a0 Side note: Prior to the festival, I did spent a few days exploring different districts of Tokyo (Harajuku, Shinjuku, Shibuya, Akihabara, Asakusa, and others), Yokohama, and Kyoto. Those experiences (Japanese food\/dining, shopping, site seeings, etc) are worthy of a blog post on its own.<\/i><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t I know people can travel to Japan without knowing a word of Japanese. Some have even lived there for months or years without bothering to learn the language. However, I wanted to better understand the culture and phrases spoken to me. I did dabble in Japanese years ago, but never got the incentive to continue until revisiting it for my trip.<\/p> To prepare for my trip to Japan (from March to May), I’ve engaged in the following<\/p> Was learning Japanese worth the trip?<\/b><\/p> I know enough to patch together basic sentences (tense forms, days, locations, who\/what\/when\/why), useful particles (\u306f “wa”, \u304c\u00a0 “ga”, \u3067 “de, \u306b “ni”), survival phrases, greetings, the number system, and a few useful words. Had I learned more kana (Hiragana\/Katakana), I would’ve been able to read more while in Japan. Additionally, learning Japanese helped me appreciate Lao as well since both languages have different levels of formalities.<\/p> Ironically, I spoke more Lao<\/i> than Japanese while I was in Japan (see restaurant section<\/a>)<\/p> All the shopping staff, station workers, and cashiers spoke to me in Japanese — and I was able to at least extract one or two words that I knew from their speech.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t Ironically, I spoke more Lao<\/i> than Japanese while I was in Japan.<\/p><\/blockquote>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t Country note:<\/b> In English we know the country of Japan as ‘Japan.’ Japan is referred to as “Nihon” or “Nippon.” The latter is how Lao people say Japan , where it is written as \u0e8d\u0eb5\u0ec8\u0e9b\u0eb8\u0ec8\u0e99 “Nypun\/Nippon” or Japanese people \u0e84\u0ebb\u0e99<\/span>\u0e8d\u0eb5\u0ec8\u0e9b\u0eb8\u0ec8\u0e99 “Kon Nypun\/Nippon.” Upon my first day of arrival in Japan (late evening), I checked into my Airbnb. It was in a nice quiet area west of the Shibuya district. As I settled in and flipped through the TV channels, I somehow stumbled upon a show about a Japanese guy going to Laos (Vientiane to Paksong)! This was aired on Tuesday 5\/22\/18 at 10pm – not sure which channel or what the show was called.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t Lao Restaurants in Japan<\/strong><\/p> Going to Lao restaurants in Japan is not something that would’ve crossed my mind about 2-3 years ago. Not often do you see Japan-themed travel\/food blogs mention Lao restaurants.<\/p> While I know there are many Thai restaurants in Japan, I wanted to find restaurants that have a more Laotian theme to them (Lao writing, Lao culture, Lao style papaya salad, etc). Not just a Thai restaurant with Lao side dishes on the menu.<\/p> Upon finding out there are indeed Lao restaurants in Japan (and that there’s going to be a Laos Festival in Tokyo), I decided, why not go to Japan and experience Sake along with BeerLao in Japan first-hand?<\/p> Sticky rice (\u3059\u3057) vs Sticky rice (\u0ec0\u0e82\u0ebb\u0ec9\u0eb2\u0eab\u0e99\u0ebd\u0ea7\u0ea5\u0eb2\u0ea7)?<\/p> As it turns out, there are indeed real Lao restaurants in Japan where Lao culture is starting to have more of a presence. Lao cuisines (and BeerLao) are slowly gaining brand recognition in Japan. Likewise, in America, the Lao food movement<\/a> is gaining traction. I’m glad I went there to support them and to try out different Lao restaurants while enjoying my trip.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t Dining Laos in Japan So far, I’ve went to 3 different Lao restaurants in Japan. One in Tokyo and two in Kyoto. The first one was Yulala which opened in 2015.\u00a0 The location of this place is just a 5-minute walk east of the Nishiki Market (where I enjoyed lunch and snacks — but decided it was Lao food for dinner).<\/p> There are many things to do in Kyoto that prior to going this restaurant, I spent most of my day going to different places. These include going to the Kiyomizu-dera temple, Funshimi-inari Shrine, Teramachi shopping street, and Nishiki market, which is just a 5-minute walk to Yulala. There are many attractions and sightseeing in Kyoto that deserves at least a 2-day trip.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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