Bardon, I'm totally a foodie but I eat fish meals maybe x2/year max, that might have to change if going to Japan I hear they like their fish up there - a lot. How good is Japan going to be as a host for the RWC down the track? (I imagine from positives I'm hearing about the country that it will be pretty awesome).
In mean time well done again Japan taking out Canada as well while they are at it.
They do love their seafood, it's the largest section in any supermarket and there are plenty of seafood restaurants. But if you're not too fond of it that's not a problem. There are plenty of different restaurants that specialize in other foods such as noodles, chicken, pork etc. I read somewhere that there are more michelin star restaurants in Tokyo than there are in New York, London and Paris combined. That's also true for reasonably priced places that produce quality food.
You could eat out at a different style of restaurant for every night of the RWC and not see a piece of seafood if that's what you wanted. Some of the styles I would recommend to try are Okonmiyaki, Shabu and Yakiniku. Yakiniku has been a special favourite of any guests I've had over visiting me. It's basically an indoor BBQ pit in the middle of your table. You order different types of meat and other stuff to cook on the BBQ. With a few beers and some saki it really hits the spot.
With regard to Japan hosting the RWC, I think they'll do a brilliant job. They don't do things by half over here. Once they are committed they give it their all and it's a mater of pride to get things done right. That can either be by being technologically brilliant or just using tonnes of extra staff. Most places over here look as over-staffed as the average Apple store. But the level of service is excellent.
But don't try to tip them for it. I made that mistake the first time I visited and they chased me out of the restaurant to give it back.
One thing I hope they do have though is assigned seating at all the games. When the Japanese want to see something they turn up very early to wait.
The Wales game only had one small section of assigned seating so we had to turn up 2 hrs before to get a half decent seat and even then the stadium was about 60-70% full. For stuff they are really into they turn up even earlier.
I think as the tournament gets even close Rugby will become more and more popular over here, especially if they don't win the Olympics bid. Then they'll want to do even better with the RWC to show it was a mistake to overlook them.
Generally visitors will get a warm welcome and the people are very polite and helpful if you ask them. I am really looking forward to it. The last RWC I was at was France 2007 and that was a disaster from an organisational point of view. I expect Japan to do a much better job.
