**CODES Committee Essential Cookbook of 2026** and Booklist's Top Ten Food Books of 2025** "Maki Itoh has succeeded in creating a treasure trove in her exploration of Japanese recipes and culinary traditions…Perfect for the Japanese food loving home cook." —Elise Bauer, Founder, SimplyRecipes.com The first comprehensive cookbook to fully cover all aspects of Japanese cuisine—with 600 recipes! This book is the culmination of a lifetime steeped in two cultures. Born in Tokyo and raised in New York, Makiko Itoh grew up in the heart of her mother's acclaimed Japanese restaurant, a culinary landmark for over twenty years. Now a celebrated bilingual food writer and translator, she brings a rare perspective—uniquely equipped to bridge the gap and share the soul of Japanese cuisine with the world. Her book provides answers to all the questions that people usually ask about one of the world's greatest cuisines, including: Why is Japanese food so unique? This book provides a full overview—from aesthetics to umami - Essential ingredients like miso, mirin, dashi, sake and kombu—how and why are they used? - How to prepare and serve a Japanese meal—from cookware to tableware and etiquette - Which recipes are right for you?—the 600 recipes in this book cover everything from sushi to ramen to donburi rice bowls, nukazuke pickles and Japanese bread! Itoh's mission is to demystify Japanese cuisine for non-Japanese home cooks. Her book contains 400 beautiful color photos with clearly-presented recipes interspersed with fascinating essays and sidebars explaining all aspects of Japan's unique food culture. A must-read book for every Japanese food lover! "This excellent compendium from Itoh ( The Just Bento Cookbook ) offers an encyclopedic introduction to "the complete range of modern Japanese home cooking." […] Alongside the more than 500 recipes, Itoh immerses readers in Japanese food culture, with fascinating sidebars on the science of umami and the history of cheesecake. The result is a one-stop resource that Japanese food enthusiasts will turn to time and again." — Publishers Weekly Starred Review "Blogger and cookbook author Itoh calls her latest "the only Japanese cookbook you will ever need" […] With love and care [she] goes over each ingredient: its uses, how it came to Japan, how it's cooked, and if it's used in celebrations…A perfect introductory book for anyone looking to learn Japanese cooking." — Booklist Starred Review "Maki Itoh has succeeded in creating a treasure trove in her exploration of Japanese recipes and culinary traditions…From onsen eggs to ramen, from okonomiyaki to sukiyaki, this book has it all! Perfect for the Japanese food loving home cook." — Elise Bauer, Founder, SimplyRecipes.com "…an exhaustive compendium of the most popular homestyle Japanese recipes out there. […] Real Japanese Cooking covers a huge span of information on Japanese food and food customs and clearly is a valuable resource offering something for everybody." — Nancy Singleton Hachisu, author of Japan: The Cookbook "For anyone interested in exploring Japanese cooking, this is likely to be your go-to for starting your journey. Understanding some of the context of Japanese cuisine is front and center, with concise, non-judgmental backgrounders on dishes, what they may mean to Japanese people, and even how some of these dishes might work in places like Canada…With more than 600 recipes, Makiki Itoh's book is a wonderful guide to have on hand." — Culinaire Magazine "Itoh's encyclopedic effort—a culinary dictionary, recipe anthology and ode to Japanese cuisine all rolled into one…" — The Japan Times "Fully living up to the claim of its title, Real Japanese Cooking by Makiko Itoh is an ideal resource for American kitchen cooks and professional chef seeking to establish authentic, genuine, and quality meals and menus featuring Japanese cuisine." — Midwest Book Review "Ms. Itoh brings the best of Japanese culture to your home. — Yumi Komatsudaira, author of Japanese Superfoods Makiko Itoh was raised and educated in Japan, the UK and the US and has lived in Europe for many decades. Despite living abroad, she has always returned to her native Japanese culinary roots. In 2003 she started writing the JustHungry blog to introduce Japanese homestyle dishes to people with limited access to the authentic ingredients. In 2007 she launched a blog dedicated to bento, which led to the publication of her first book, The Just Bento Cookbook , which has become an international bestseller. She now lives in Switzerland and writes a monthly column on Japanese food for The Japan Times .