This About Me page introduces who I am and why I create recipes. I am Saiko, a Japanese traveler who has always understood the world through flavor.
This space began long before I ever set foot in Cassis, France or Kotor, Montenegro. It began in Japan, inside my mother’s tiny mochi mise—a small neighborhood shop where the air always smelled of warm rice, roasted soybean flour, and sweet red bean filling.

As a child, I spent hours watching her shape soft daifuku with quiet patience. She worked gently, with a rhythm that felt like a lullaby. Every customer left smiling. Every mochi carried a small piece of our home. Those moments shaped me, and they taught me a truth I still carry today: food remembers everything.

Japanese Mochi – Where My Story Begins

My connection to mochi is more than culinary.
It is cultural, emotional, and personal.
The stretch of warm dough between my palms brings back the sound of my mother’s voice, the glow of her little shop at dusk, and the joy of seeing someone taste something made with care.

In my Japanese Mochi category, you’ll find the flavors of those memories—authentic recipes, modern variations, matcha versions I discovered while traveling, and daifuku inspired by the quiet mornings I spent helping in the shop. Each recipe carries the softness of tradition and the curiosity that guides my travels today.

Travel Food – Simple Meals for Life on the Move

Although my roots are deeply Japanese, my life has always been full of movement.
I travel to understand places, people, and the small details that give a city its rhythm. Most of my meals are eaten on trains, in airports, on coastal paths, or from tiny bakery counters tucked between old streets.

The Travel Food category collects the recipes and tips that fit into this wandering life—easy sandwiches, portable snacks, soft donuts made for long days, and simple dishes that travel well. These are the foods I prepare when I’m on the road and want something comforting, practical, and full of flavor.

International Recipes – A Map Made of Flavor

Travel has taught me that every place has its own way of feeding the body and the heart.
Cassis tasted like grilled sardines and sea breeze.
A mountain village café served a slow-cooked stew that seemed to hold the whole afternoon inside it.
Moroccan couscous reminded me that a humble bowl can feel like home.

The International Recipes category gathers these impressions: global comfort food, soups, salads, holiday dishes, and everyday classics from different corners of the world. They are simple to make and full of the warmth I found during my travels.

Why I Created This Space

This blog is my open journal—a bridge between the small mochi shop of my childhood and the wide world I continue to explore. Every recipe here is tied to a moment: a walk through a market, a conversation with a cook, a sea view, a quiet street, or a memory held in the palm of my hand like fresh mochi.

If you love discovering cultures through food, if travel inspires you, or if you believe that simple recipes can hold deep meaning, you are in the right place.

My kitchen reflects the road: simple, spontaneous, and always looking for wonder.

If you love discovering new cultures through flavors, or if you crave that feeling of arriving in a new place and wondering what’s for lunch, you are home.

Let’s Continue the Journey Together

Whether you want to explore authentic Japanese mochi, prepare something easy for your next trip, or taste comforting dishes from around the world, I hope this space inspires you to wander, cook, and savor the small details.

I’m grateful you’re here.

Discover new recipes on my homepage

Let’s cook, wander, and taste the world—one dish at a time.
I am so glad you are here.

Curious about how food and travel connect across cultures?
Take a deeper dive with my inspirations here.

— Saiko
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