• Link to X
  • Link to Facebook
  • Link to Instagram
  • Shopping Cart Shopping Cart
    0Shopping Cart
Custom Tours & Tailor Made Holidays in Japan - My Japan Guide
  • Destinations
    • Japan’s Regions
    • The must-see places
  • Private Tours
  • Custom Tour
  • Experiences
    • Insider Experiences
    • Cultural Experiences
  • Services
    • Pocket Wifi Rental
    • Japan Airport Meet & Greet
    • Private Airport Transfer Japan
    • Car Charter & Private Transfers
  • Our Agency
    • About My Japan Guide
    • Our values & commitments
    • What Our Guests Say
    • FAQ
  • Contact
  • Handcrafted Journeys
  • Click to open the search input field Click to open the search input field Search
  • Menu Menu

What is Kaiseki? The Japanese haute cuisine

Food

Pronounced “kaiseki“, it can written in two ways, with different kanji (Chinese characters) and two different meanings. One (懐石) has the same kanji as chakaiseki (茶懐石), which is the formal tea (cha) ceremony, with kaiseki a modest meal with strict rules, served as a preliminary to enjoying matcha. In fact, kaiseki means “stones in the bosom” which refers to the stones (seki, or 石) that ascetic Zen monks were placing in their robes (kai, or 懐), on their stomachs, to fight hunger.

Today, kaiseki (会席) is known as a social meeting (kai, or 会), with seating (seki, or 席), that pays respect to sake as much as tea. Relaxed in its rules, this form of kaiseki has become luxurious and elaborate compared to its humble roots and is now the Japanese version of Haute Cuisine, the ultimate in Japanese fine dining.

Kaiseki features small seasonal plates served in succession, that balances the taste, texture, appearance, and colors of food, pushing rice to the end not to conflict with the sake. There can be 6 to 15 different kinds of food such as:

  • “shiizakana” (appetizers served with Japanese sake)
  • “mukouzuke” (sashimi – slices of raw fish)
  • “kuchitori” (a small side dish)
  • “suimono” (a soup)
  • “nimono” (simmered vegetables)
  • “aemono” (food dressed with sauce)
  • “kounomono” (Japanese pickles)
  • “hassun” (food from the mountains and the sea)
  • “sunomono” (food marinated in vinegar)
  • “yakimono” (grilled fish)
  • “mushimono” (steamed food)
  • “nabemono” (Japanese hot pot)
  • rice
  • miso soup
  • dessert

Kaiseki menu changes throughout the year, beginning in November when the year’s first tea is ready for grinding. The year is divided into season or kisetsu, and both the food and the tableware reflect the changing months and seasons.

Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on X
  • Share on WhatsApp
  • Share by Mail

On Instagram

No images available at the moment

Follow Us !

My Japan Guide

By appointment only
1 Hinookakamodochō, Yamashina-ku,
Kyoto-shi, Kyoto 607-8495

yokoso@privatetours.jp
Tel: +81(0)75-585-5818

More From Us

  • About My Japan Guide
  • Our values & commitments
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Cookies
  • Travel Japan Info

What our guests say

Copyright © 2025 - My Japan Guide - Powered by Private Tours Japan
Link to: Japanese Food Theme Parks Link to: Japanese Food Theme Parks Japanese Food Theme ParksJapanese Food Theme Parks Link to: Stinky, sticky beans…the Natto Link to: Stinky, sticky beans…the Natto Stinky, sticky beans...the Natto Stinky, sticky beans…the Natto
Scroll to top Scroll to top Scroll to top

The website might use cookies to personalize content, to provide social media features and to analyze our traffic. We do not share that information with third parties.

OKLearn more

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Privacy Policy

You can read about our cookies and privacy settings in detail on our Privacy Policy Page.

Cookies
X