Hopefully something that also goes into the history of the food,
customs, traditions and where/how to acquire some of the necessary
ingredients. If this takes more than one book (or a series of them)
that is fine as along as they are good.

I'd prefer to avoid anything that's heavily 'east-west', but a little
bit is ok, as I understand that substitutions are necessary.


I saw one today in HalfPrice Books, generically titled "Japanese
Cooking". It had an engaging overview of Japanese culture as it related
to dining, and while it talked about probably a couple hundred different
dishes (and their variations, and their roles in nutrition) it only
contained about a dozen actual recipes (six of them being types of sushi).

Thanks in advance for the help!

-Jared