14 day Japan Explorer March 14, 2022

[Dog Lover Mom]

Hello, This is Dog Lover Mom, I am new to Cruise Critic.  I have a few questions for fellow cruisers on this journey.  First time to Japan.  We will be staying overnight in Kobe, Japan.  Interested in making a reservation months in advance for a Kobe beef restaurant.  Is there a website that can be utilized to translate from english to Japanese to make a dinner reservation.  I noticed on facebook some of the restaurants do not have websites, and do not use outlook.com.  Any information on this subject would be greatly appreciated. Traveling alone and would also need to book a taxi to and from the restaurant.  

 

Looking forward to meeting my fellow cruisers.

Thanking you in advance for your consideration in my request for assistance.

[CruiserBruce]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

I see you already posted on your Roll Call. That is THE place to meet others on your cruise. Good Luck!!

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Welcome to Cruise Critic Holland America Board, I have cruised to Japan twice although not with HAL but Princess. I have a few recommendations for you. You may get lots of excellent answers on the Cruise Critic Asia Board https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/43-asia/

There are lots of very knowledgeable travelers and some from Japan that may be able to answer your questions.  

OK first from my experience the Beef in Japan is excellent, the steaks already melt in your mouth and are a much higher quality then what we see in the US. But with that being said almost all fine dining restaurants offer Kobe beef and the price for it is very high it ranges $75.00 to $110.00 US per ounce. It is also extremely rich in flavor so you really cannot eat more than a few ounces. After our first time to Japan we soon learned it was not necessary to eat Kobe Beef. Although I do remember having it back in 1970 my first trip there. We have since been in 2017 and 2019. We are returning again in September 2022 to cruise out of Yokohama. 

There are so many wonderful foods to try in Japan, the money spent on eating actual Kobe Beef may actually end up disappointing you in my opinion. 

 

Edited April 29, 2021 by LAFFNVEGAS
spelling

[bennybear]

We loved the Kobe beef and had it a  Few times in Japan.  Probably the best was in a small town near where the cattle are actually raised.  I’m from the area of the best Alberta beef and the Kobe is very different, almost like foie gras.   Just for interest I just finished posting photos of our 2019 Japan circumnavigation on Memories on this date thread.  Have a Wonderful cruise!   

[cruiserchuck]

We used Google translate to help us translate/send an email to a restaurant in Japan to make a reservation.  We went to a real good one near our hotel in Tokyo and had wagyu beef.   The beef was excellent.  We did not feel like paying the high price for real Kobe beef.  

[KirkNC]

Welcome to Cruise Critic.  We have spent several weeks in Japan but not in Kobe.  We found Japan to have the largest English language gap we have experienced (including China and Europe) however we also found people to be super friendly.  We did find younger Japanese more likely to speak English.  Having said that, those who could not speak much English would whip out their phone and use Google translate to aid in communication.

[CruiseMGM]

Have to agree with KirkNC regarding English language speakers in Japan! DH and I were shocked (on our one and so-far only cruise including China and Japan) that China seemed to have more English speakers than Japan. But friendly, definitely.

 

Welcome to CC! I have been obsessed with Wagyu beef for a long time but the price always kept me from trying it, even on our stop in Kobe. Finally, during last year-of-no-travel, I finally found something that just squeaked under my that's-WAY-too-expensive radar and we ordered a package deal consisting of 2 A5 Wagyu filets from Kagoshima prefecture and 2 lobster tails, from Costco of all places. Oh. My. Gosh. The lobsters (seriously, 2 enormous lobster tails that were wrist to elbow in length) were really good, but the steaks were the stars of the show. Mind you, this is not Kobe beef, which we've still never had. But we are now absolutely spoiled for a great steak. We enjoyed that meal back in November and I'm still thinking of it and wanting to buy it again. I hope you get to try Kobe beef in Kobe, it's very expensive but even just a standard A5 steak will blow you away. A5 is the top rating Japan gives for beef, so the Kobe would definitely be A5 as well. Good luck and have a fabulous trip!

 

Best wishes!

[bennybear]

We spent two weeks on our own in Japan in smaller towns as well as larger cities and had no issues at all with language.  Only once truly did we have just a small issue.  We were very pleasantly surprised so don’t let this hold you back. 

[LAFFNVEGAS]

2 hours ago, bennybear said:

We spent two weeks on our own in Japan in smaller towns as well as larger cities and had no issues at all with language.  Only once truly did we have just a small issue.  We were very pleasantly surprised so don’t let this hold you back. 

While I agree we had less problems our last time there in 2019 than we did in 2017 it is still wise to advise that Japan does have far fewer English speaking residents. It is not at all like going to Europe. Having a translator on your phone is helpful. Staying in the larger cities like Tokyo or Osaka there is usually some one that knows some English. The biggest key is to approach young adults or even teenagers if you need assistance. Actually teenagers love the chance to speak English since they are learning in school. Many Older Adults did learn it in school but like anyone when you do not use what was taught, what you know fades. The Japanese are very proud people and basically do not want to show they do not know the language so could come off as a bit rude but they are really friendly but refrain from even trying to speak it or understand it. In 2017 we decided to venture off on our own and just do a short round trip Shinkansen (Bullet Train) out of Akita. The train station the taxi dropped us off at from the cruise pier was not the train station that our Shinkansen tickets were to go out of but rather a much larger train station. We needed to navigate out way via train to get to the train station to get on our Shinkansen we had tickets for at a specific time. Basically NO One spoke English and all were seniors working in and around the train station and it was a week day and all kids were in school.

We did manage to do what we wanted to do. Although once we were at the station where we would reboard a train to return to Akita. A gentleman who appeared to be our age walked up to us and wanted to speak English. He explained that he had lived in Los Angeles for a few years because the company he had worked for had an office in the US. That had been several year ago and he enjoyed getting the chance to practice his English.

As I stated our return trip in 2019 we did not run into as many problems but then we also did more organized tours and did not venture out on our own as much.

We love Japan, the people, the culture and the food and look forward to returning in September 2022.

[TiogaCruiser]

@CruiseMGM Thank you for the reference to the beef and lobster. DH has a significant BD in 3 weeks and he isn’t ready to go to a restaurant yet.

 

Now off to Costco online to see if they offer this now in our area.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

23 minutes ago, TiogaCruiser said:

@CruiseMGM Thank you for the reference to the beef and lobster. DH has a significant BD in 3 weeks and he isn’t ready to go to a restaurant yet.

 

Now off to Costco online to see if they offer this now in our area.

It is available for us so most likely for you as well.

https://www.costco.com/a5-wagyu-surf-%26-turf-pack%2c-cold-water-lobster-tails-and-japanese-a5-wagyu-filet-mignon.product.100671194.html

[AncientWanderer]

55 minutes ago, TiogaCruiser said:

@CruiseMGM Thank you for the reference to the beef and lobster. DH has a significant BD in 3 weeks and he isn’t ready to go to a restaurant yet.

 

Now off to Costco online to see if they offer this now in our area.

 

Coincidentally, our neighbor was just talking about this the other day.  He bought the Costco beef and said he was a nervous wreck cooking it because it was so expensive.  But it turned out great.  He said it was the best steak he's ever had.  

[KirkNC]

4 minutes ago, AncientWanderer said:

 

Coincidentally, our neighbor was just talking about this the other day.  He bought the Costco beef and said he was a nervous wreck cooking it because it was so expensive.  But it turned out great.  He said it was the best steak he's ever had.  

Wow $270.00 for dinner for two and you have to cook it 😳.  Wine is extra.

[USN59-79]

Dog Lover Mom - That that Wagyu beef that Costco sells is from Kagoshima.   Notice that the Noordam stops at Kagoshima on March 26 before returning to Yokohama.  We are also on that cruise, although joining it a month earlier on February 14.  Hope to see you aboard!

[CruiseMGM]

4 hours ago, KirkNC said:

Wow $270.00 for dinner for two and you have to cook it 😳.  Wine is extra.

 

LOL! Yes, just don't overcook the steaks. It was a truly phenomenal meal. Thanks, LaffnVegas (neighbors?) for the link. Sure hope it all works out for whomever decides to indulge. 

 

Best wishes!

[crayfish]

Steaks may not be the main problem on that cruise. Being able to do your own thing in port may be. Possibly HAL will only allow people to leave the ship on HAL tours. That would be a pity.

[BruceMuzz]

There is a lot of confusion and mis-information about “Wagyu” and “Kobe Beef”.

“Wagyu” ( 和牛 ) translates as “Japanese Cow”.

All beef coming from cows raised in Japan is Wagyu. This includes Kobe Beef.

All of this meat is from several different Japanese cattle breeds that are different from those that you see in your country.

Due to space restrictions in Japan, they are even transporting live Japanese cows abroad for fattening, before returning them to Japan for butchering. This allows them to keep the Wagyu or Kobe Beef designation.

Very similar to the French “Appellation Controllee” system for wines, Kobe Beef is Wagyu beef from specific breeds and specific areas and farms.

There are many different grades in quality and price for Wagyu Beef, and there are many additional grades in quality and price for Kobe Beef.

All of them are better than the beef you might purchase in your home country.

 

Where is the worst place to order Kobe Beef? A restaurant that advertises itself as a “Kobe Beef Restaurant”. You will pay top dollar for beef that may or may not be the best quality. You especially do not want to go to a Kobe Beef Restaurant anywhere near Kobe, Japan.

 

What to do ?

Check restaurant reviews for top quality Wagyu Beef. If you are outside Japan, you are still going to pay inflated prices. If inside Japan, you can find very reasonably priced High Quality Wagyu Beef dishes at restaurants in Tokyo.

Or if you live in Tokyo, like me, you just go to a local supermarket and decide which quality / price level of Japanese beef you want to buy.

 

As other posters mentioned, Japanese Beef is much more marbled and fattier than the beef you normally eat. You will not want to eat as much of it as you normally do. The amount you purchase will be less than normal, so not much more expensive that you might think.

[oakridger]

@BruceMuzz thank you for the great explanation about Japanese beef!

 

~Nancy

[CruiseMGM]

13 hours ago, BruceMuzz said:

There is a lot of confusion and mis-information about “Wagyu” and “Kobe Beef”.

<snip>

Thank you so much for your explanation, loved reading your insight! Like the OP, DH and I had wanted to find a restaurant where we could try Kobe beef during our one day in Kobe, but we ended up taking a fantastic tour instead (too much to see and do!). It was definitely a good choice for us, but we've always slightly mourned our lost chance. Happy to read it was probably a good choice, period!

 

DH and I still talk about our Wagyu dinner, and have since tried some additional "types" from a retailer specializing in prime steaks, including "Australian full-blooded Wagyu", "Australian Prime" (mixed breed with some Wagyu in the bloodline) and "American Wagyu." So far, nothing has held a candle to the Kagoshima Wagyu from the Costco order, but the Australian full-blooded Wagyu was a very decent second. I think(know) we're spoiled! They have all been lovely guilty indulgences, maybe once every other month, served with a perfect baked potato, a fresh green salad and a nice bottle of wine. Mmmmmmmmmmm!

 

Thank you again!