I picked up this book when I lived in Japan. Possibly it's a good book while you're living there because you can easily find all of the ingredients and if you don't know what you're looking for, you have the proper name to ask.

However, it doesn't explain the ingredients or techniques very well. It assumes a certain level of knowledge: not necessarily knowing how to cook/ prepare these foods, but knowing how they should look and what they should taste like. It's almost like it's writ More...