Japan Village Walk

Shirokiya’s Japan Village Walk opened in Honolulu's Ala Moana Center on June 25 this year, and immediately became a big hit.

So the wife and I stayed away for a few months, just to let the excitement die down a bit. Excitement? For sure. I remember being amazed at the live videos posted on Facebook of the long lines and crowded food kiosk aisles.

Not for me, I definitely could wait.

Japan Village Walk has got a “Guardian Spirit Sanctuary” featuring eight different Buddhas and the Japanese Zodiac’s 12 signs. Five exhibition rooms comprise the “Zeppin Plaza,” which features Japanese artisan-created masterpiece collections.

Five service counters sell $1 (Yes, a BUCK!) draft beers, and the “Vintage Cave” Bakery features gourmet Shirakami-Kodama yeast.

Japan Village Walk is primarily a food mall featuring Japanese food of all kinds: We counted approximately 35 food kiosks with everything from bentoes, tempura, sweets, takoyaki, yakitori, ramen, udon and sushi. Not only that, the Village Walk offers 14 specialty bistros—wagyu cuisine, pasta, hotpots, tempura and other seafoods.

They even have Spam!

There are 900 seats for visitors and diners; cold drinks are displayed in coolers and you can pay for them at any kiosk.

It became very apparent that the wife and I could not, absolutely could not, sample everything that night. So we had some takoyaki and a small sushi mix.

But I did take a bunch of pictures, of course. Here are some of them:

Gotta go back. Gotta go back. Uh huh, gotta go back.