Foreword by Charlie Trotter. Shunju: New Japanese Cuisine captures the experience of dining at Tokyo's most innovative and exciting restaurants: Shunju. Everything about these restaurants is unique: the design, decoration, lighting, and especially, the food.

The menu changes with the seasons, and the specials change depending on what is available in the market, with the chefs choosing from the hand picked vegetables that arrive each morning. The food, although quintessentially Japanese, is fresh and innovative, adding unexpected touches from other cuisines.

Takashi Sugimoto is Japan's leading restaurant designer and is responsible for many of Japan's most famous restaurants. The Shunju restaurants represent his most impressive venture so far, in which he has not only created Tokyo's funkiest eateries and bars but has offered Tokyo residents a new lifestyle philosophy.