In Japan, where rice has been the staple crop since ancient times, most traditional cuisine was developed to complement rice and sake (rice wine). Examples include stew, tempura, sashimi, hotpot dishes and donburi, which is ingredients over rice in a bowl.

Donburi was developed in the early 19th century as a fast food for typically impatient Edo (former Tokyo) craftsmen. In the 20th century, it became established as a type of cuisine that even started being served at restaurants and hotels.

Donburi cuisine encompasses a wide variety of dishes including traditional kaisen-don with sashimi on rice, oyako-don with chicken and eggs sweetly simmered in soy sauce on rice, and ten-don with tempura on rice. Recently, donburi has further evolved by incorporating dishes from the West, other parts of Asia and elsewhere.

At Hotel Gracery Sapporo and Tokyo Bay Ariake Washington Hotel, you can custom make your own kaisen-don with various seafood for breakfast. We also recommend breakfast at Chiba Washington Hotel, which changes its menu every week and serves donburi, seasoned rice or hotpot dishes depending on the season.

■ Hotel Gracery Sapporo (Hokkaido)
For details, visit: http://sapporo.gracery.com/

■ Tokyo Bay Ariake Washington Hotel
For details, visit: http://tokyobay.washington-hotels.jp/

■ Chiba Washington Hotel
For details, visit: http://chiba.washington-hotels.jp/