Donburi Travel Guide

A simple concept that’s diverse in its toppings, donburi is a classic Japanese meal made from your favorite ingredients served over rice. In an array of styles using meat, fish, or vegetables, donburi-mono is the term for these various rice bowl dishes, where according to the region, season, and ingredients, different varieties of donburi are served throughout Japan. For example, a fluffy bed of rice matched with crunchy tempura pieces makes for a tasty tendon, while the classic Japanese fast food, gyudon, consists of a stew of onions and tender sliced beef in sweetened soy sauce. A hearty fill that’s always comforting, other popular donburi bowls include oyakodon (a “mother and child” donburi) made with chicken and eggs, or katsudon, a variation using deep-fried pork cutlet, eggs, and onion slices.

Meanwhile, rice beds laden with soft pieces of eel mark a delicious unadon, and kaisendon (a.k.a. seafood donburi) features seafood slices and raw cuts of fish, with each prefecture flaunting a regional specialty. The donburi list goes on, each a unique dish that’s always delicious. Put together in home kitchens or served in restaurants across the country, it’s a bowl of rice with food on top, simple as that, yet somehow both new toppings and old favorites make them even more delicious than you could imagine. Create your own donburi using tempura or sashimi during a home-style Japanese cooking class, or discover your new favorite flavor while enjoying a donburi lunch on a food tour. Simple yet comforting, donburi are effortlessly tasty every time.