Patricia is a longtime Tokyoite, with research interests in Japanese sake (nihonshu), travel (recently throughout Shizuoka (near Mt. Fuji), and travel literature. Her Masters in Japanese literature from University of Colorado at Boulder provided a deeper context and appreciation for what she encounters. Favorite places include Tsukiji fish market, Asakusa, Shibuya, and the Imperial Palace center of Tokyo. She lives in Ryogoku, home of sumo, and often visits Kamakura. She teaches English at Meiji University and Meiji Gakuin University. Other interests include photography, Japanese food, museums, body building and wandering around the streets of Tokyo poking into places. She enjoys sharing the surprises and making sense of the seeming chaos with visitors.

Dr. John is a postharvest and food scientist who currently teaches at the University of Tokyo. He first came to Japan to pursue his Ph.D. degree as a scholar of MEXT (Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) specializing in food safety with his research focusing on the functional properties of food to promote human health and well-being. For him, Tsukiji – the world’s biggest seafood market – is a must-see to further appreciate Japanese food culture. His scholarship and exposure makes him an interesting docent – satisfying both the hunger for that authentic Japanese treat, and the inquisitive mind with cultural and science-based facts.

Davey is an educator and writer who has lived in Tokyo since 2012. He studied Literature and Art History at the University of Puget Sound before receiving an MA in TESOL from Seattle Pacific University in 2010. He currently works as a Program Manager in the Center for English Discussion at Rikkyo University and writes about travel & culture in Japan and food & drink in the nation’s capital for a variety of outlets. His work has appeared in Atlas Obscura, Le Pan, and BeerAdvocate, among others. He is a regular contributor to both Culinary Backstreets and the Japan Times, where he writes a monthly column about the craft beer scene in Tokyo. Davey loves to share Tokyo’s bar and B-kyū (B-class) gourmet cuisine, as well as Japanese history with particular regard to the development of religion in Japan.