The Bunny Diaries: Sakura Smith

The baker and writer shares her dispatch on everything she j'adored last week: a surprise proposal, ryokan dinners, and a Tokyo milk that will ruin all other versions forever.

Hi Bunnies,

This week I am posting the J’adore Last Week in collaboration with, and in celebration of, Takeaway’s new Substack.

If you are new to The Bunny Diaries, I’m Sakura (@sakurasmith), a baker and writer who has spent the last decade in New York, making and selling wild-yeast bagels—among other things under the handle @bagel.bunny. I moved to Tokyo in January with my fiancé (OMG, first time typing that), and have been having an adventure ever since. I’ve started consulting on hospitality for some brands and individuals, picked my ceramics practice back up, all the while still cooking and working on my friend’s bar. I started this series in 2024 as a challenge to write weekly, but also to capture the moments I loved throughout the week. Glad to have you here.

So, as I do, here is everything J’adored Last Week:

My Jiji (じじ) is in the hospital, and it is so out-of-body sometimes to watch people age. What is that about?

I have spoken a lot about grief lately on the newsletter, and this week, I wondered a lot about the ways the body changes, the way energy shifts—where is someone energetically? Where are they going? Like I’ve said before, we are always attached to what we know.

While I don’t actually adore anything about this, I do adore that I can be with my mom and grandma, and cook for them. Drew is currently making us a big salad, and I am snacking on fresh mochi covered with soy sauce and butter from the farm stand in the area. To start the week, my friend Olivia reminded me how hydrating hibiscus tea is. I mix it with raspberry leaves to support my menstrual cycle. I’ve been drinking it every day, and it makes me feel as though I’m having an all-day cocktail.

Not to be that girl, but I got engaged last week. Drew proposed in Kamakura, where my mom grew up. It was private and sweet and something I just loved. Luckily, I didn’t have in-person work the next two days, as he also planned two nights away so we could have writing sessions about what our future might look like. While we are super excited and being very low-key about it all, I feel grateful to have chosen someone like this—someone who cares.

First, we had my favorite meal at this Korean restaurant focused on themes of mother and daughter, health and care. They had a Hay Bonbon lamp hanging in the center of the room, and the space was dressed perfectly in light-colored geometric shapes. The menu was tight with everything centered around health.

I ordered the omija-cha, which is schisandra tea, meant to help balance your body. Damn, it was sooo gooooooood. They sprinkled it with pine nuts, which I do not normally love, but something about the soft bite and nuttiness was so lovely. The flavor you taste tells you about a certain quality of health your body might be lacking. I like this sort of game with food. I wish there was a version of this for every bite. I also ordered soondubu with clams in their typically vegetarian broth. You could tell, but not in a bad way. Drew had cold soba noodles that were still perfectly firm.

We spent the rest of the day on the beach, which led to yogurt soft serve, and finally, to the moment he asked me as the sun set. This usually unshakeable man was awkwardly silent. I laughed in the moment, wondering where his strangeness stemmed from.

We overate at dinner, and I felt like I was going to inflate and float into the sky. In the morning we woke early, went to the sauna and jumped in the ocean.

For breakfast, we ate at a place I love, but only go to at 7 a.m. before tourists arrive. We sat next to and talked with a visitor from the U.K. I bought four pieces of their dried and frozen fish to take home with me.

From there we drove to Izu, passing through the town of Shuzenji along the river, where we looked at the shops and antiques, almost walking away with a tea set. We bought shrimp rice crackers and stopped outside town at まめや, a restaurant in a woman’s home, for lunch.

You could have curry or the lunch set. I had one, Drew had the other. There was a cat, and we played with it, so it felt like an accidental cat café. The cat was funny but wise, knowing how to open the sliding door to greet and say goodbye to customers. It was a great place.

We stayed at the ryokan, Ochiairo, which I had been wanting to visit for a long time. Built in 1874, it seemed like the kind of place people go to celebrate. We pulled up with our sandy feet and a car full of water bottles. We bathed all day and spoke, wrote, and robed up for dinner. Then we slept deeply in fluffy beds.

The food there was the best ryokan food I’ve had by far. Everything was flavorful, but also cooked to perfection. I find that traditional Japanese food, while “good,” isn’t always done well. Sometimes it goes: boil that thing, throw a soy sauce-mirin combo on top, and call it a day. Not truly flavored. You can tell a lot about a cook from their clear soup.

This crane bowl became my obsession of the week. The Spanish mackerel inside ended up being my favorite dish of the night.

Okay, tea drinks have always been in my lane. After deciding I didn’t want anymore sake, I switched to a sparkling black tea. If I ever open anything, this will be on the menu. In ceremony, it feels like a beer or a cocktail.

In the morning, I drank this local milk, and if you haven’t been to Japan and had milk fresh from a farm, I just don’t know what to say to you. Imagine the milkiest milk milk could ever be.

In the lobby, Drew found these cheese snacks called Cheese in Snack, and they are addictive, to say the least. Each package contains a crisp cheese cracker with a softer, slightly sweet cheese tucked inside. It was good and weird, some sort of genius.

The next day, Drew had his wasabi ice cream because this prefecture is known for wasabi. Next week he will be posting his Tokyo/Japan Ice Cream Report on the newsletter. He has been researching this for a long time and I am excited to see what qualifies.

When we got home to Tokyo, I made a soup inspired by avgolemono, but instead of orzo I made it with couscous ’cause that’s what I had. And I want you to know that I was going to write the word “because,” but “’cause” was the right way to go after couscous.

Having friends who also happen to be your new neighbors has been so special. That’s what I want to do every day: meet up with friends at the coffee shop while I’m groggy-eyed and unsure of what’s ahead.

I see so many flower arrangements that I love, but I never arrange them because, truly, I get lazy about it. Finding the right vase and trimming the flowers has always overwhelmed me. But nowadays I really want to let it feel like a creative endeavor. Here is my first one.

Then I saw this bra that I didn’t buy, but I wish I had.

Attempted to do an easy jerk chicken night. The chicken was cooked in our fish grill, and we found jerk seasoning at Dean & Deluca. Thank god. We had some snap peas, so we blanched them and cooked them with garlic. I made some beans with onions and whatever else was around.

For mornings, I have been craving turmeric salmon and edamame. This can be speedy if you plan right. I bought some miso a few weeks ago in Kanazawa from a 400-year old miso shop.

More sourdough from 365 Bakery—look at the wrapping on this bread. She’s perfect. I was inspired, so we picnicked in the park at dusk.

We bought mid cheese from & CHEESE STAND. They did sell mini honey sticks, which I thought was genius, but otherwise the cheeses we chose were primarily just sour, so I look forward to trying again.

I feel lucky living the life I live.

To close out, here is a photo of Yuzu, my sister’s dog, who has brought me joy daily.

Enjoy yourself,
Sakura

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