Try Some Japanese Desserts with the Tasty Traveler

Japan is known for its tea ceremonies, sushi, tempura, and miso soup, and for many visitors, food is actually the main event. But every main event has its final conclusion, the course that concludes the meal. We’re talking about desserts. Food blogger and American based in Tokyo, Katie the Tasty Traveler, wants to introduce you to Japan’s buzzing dessert scene.

Cataloguing and rating anything edible (with special emphasis on sweets), Katie firmly believes that every place has something good to offer and is determined to find it. “The Tasty Traveler has been a project since 2016, when I began blogging while traveling in Europe and living in Prague,” she explains on her personal website. “Before starting the blog, I was incredibly active on Yelp writing reviews across the USA, with a heavy focus on Oklahoma and Colorado.”

A life-long nomad, Katie has lived in seven different countries, visited over 30, and has had serious bouts of food poisoning in at least five of those beautiful places. Now her main focus is on Tokyo, her current home. Her blog posts include a Tokyo Pancake Quest, The Japanese Kit Kat Project, and Marigold Dessert Ranking.

Recent articles also include a deep dive into Japanese insect cuisine (shudder). “By the time we made it to dessert, I felt like a new carnivore,” writes Katie. “I was proud of myself for eating all the creepy, crunchy, and squishy things. I was also pleasantly surprised by how much of the food wasn’t awful. I was fully expecting to be grossed out by every dish, but only a few really made me hesitate. It was difficult at first, but at the end of the day, they’re just bugs.”

We’d rather go for Japanese pancakes.