All articles filed in Japan

It is sunset in Gion, the geisha district in Kyoto. Red lanterns sway in the breeze. Beautifully dressed geisha hurry to their appointments. We are sitting in a Japanese restaurant so exclusive it doesn’t even have a name. A slew of dishes, each more esoteric than the last, appear. There is young tofu; rice balls specked with black sesame seeds; translucent soups with unidentified floating objects; and wobbly substances containing ingredients that we can only speculate on.