6 Strange Japanese Dishes 日本の怪しい食物

Beginner Level

• Natto: fermented soybeans with a sticky texture and distinctive smell. It is eaten with a little mentsuyu sauce, Japanese mustard (karashi) and often spring onions, all on a bowl of rice. Traditionally, the Japanese eat it for breakfast, but it's now not as popular.
  
• Nankotsu: This is actually chicken cartilage (usually from the sternum) that is eaten in izakaya (bars) as yakitori skewers. They can also be deep-fried. The texture is very crunchy and slightly chewy.
  

Intermediate Level

• Inago: these are slightly caramelized and roasted insects often served as an accompaniment to rice. This is not a very common Japanese dish.
  
• Shirako: literally meaning "white children", shirako is fish roe still in its membrane. It is eaten raw.
  

Expert Level

• Ikizukuri: fresh sashimi, very fresh... actually, still alive. The animal presented to you on your plate still moves and breathes, but its flesh is prepared for consumption. No need to worry about the freshness of the fish here! The ikizukuri octopus and squid are quite spectacular. 
  
• Rebasashi: with a strong taste, viscous texture and oozing blood, rebasashi is raw horse liver. This is generally found in Kumamoto (Kyushu). This dish can also be found in the form of ice-cream!
  

The list is far from complete, but the rest may seem tame in comparison: wasabi beer, dried crab appetizers, pork placenta jelly, octopus ice-cream, marinated fish entrails, cucumber-flavoured Pepsi, snake sake, fried noodle sandwiches...