This email is sent to guests who have dined with us at HIGASHI-YAMA Tokyo and our affiliated restaurants, and also those who have registered from our website.

We hope you are all well and surviving the blistering heat now that we are in the hottest season of the year.

With a growing regard for the environment, many people are reexamining the conventional wisdom of our ancestors who took cues from nature to cope with the summer heat. Time-honored creative techniques, such as hanging bamboo blinds to block the harsh sunlight but allow the passing of a cool breeze, sprinkling water on pavement to reduce the ground temperature, and using wind chimes whose sounds invoke a refreshing cool sensation – these are all still symbols of the summer season in Japan today. There really is so much to be learned from the rich sensibility of our ancestors, who were brought up alongside nature.

In Japanese cuisine, too, seasons and scenes of nature are expressed not only through the ingredients, but also in the serving dishes and plating presentation. The seasons are to be savored and enjoyed by all five senses.

We invite you to come and relax in the cooling atmosphere at HIGASHI-YAMA Tokyo, where the ivy is thick with leaves that sway in the breeze. We have prepared a number of summer dishes using seasonal ingredients from around Japan.

We are looking forward to your visit.

Chef Kazuki Watanabe