Home cooking in Japan

This item appears on page 77 of the July 2014 issue.

Visitors to Japan who are looking for a home-cooked meal can sign up with Nagomi Visit (based in Japan), a nonprofit service that matches visitors with local families.

People planning a visit to Japan fill out the online booking form describing who will be arriving and where they will be and when, and Nagomi Visit provides a list of hosts who are available. Visitors are met by their hosts and led to the home where they will be dining. The meal, either lunch or dinner, lasts two hours and costs ¥3,500 (near $34.50) per adult (under age 5, free).