Furasato: Welcome back to your ‘hometown’

Furusato means hometown in Japanese. Maybe that’s why it has become a must for tourists from the East Asian country to stop by and visit one of several Japanese restaurants on Saipan, and for locals to make it their regular place to hangout either every lunch or dinner time.

Furusato has been around for close to 18 years now, making it one of the familiar landmarks in the Garapan tourist district. It sits in the same spot since the day it opened on Sept. 1, 1999.

Though Furusato is usually packed with mostly tourists wanting to unwind after a day of visiting the island’s historical and scenic spots, owner Hideaki Sawada wanted to give more push on their restaurant’s daily lunch specials that offers a different set meal from 11:30am to 2pm from Mondays to Saturdays.

Of course, they still offer traditional favorites of ramen, soba, and udon—hot or cold—shrimp or vegetable tempura, karaage (Japanese fried chicken), katsudon (pork cutlet), tonkatsu (breaded deep-fried pork cutlet), miso soup, and gyoza (Japanese-style dumplings).

Their usual customers and regulars are walk-ins since parking has been a problem as they sit right in the middle of Paseo de Marianas. That’s why most of their customers at night are the possible result of the increased foot traffic of tourists just going around the Paseo.

Tour agents also contributed to their daily clientele as they bring groups of hungry tourists to the restaurant.

Sawada is also hands on when it comes inside the kitchen, he works as the quality control officer making sure cook Leonardo Montera follows in creating dishes the authentic and traditional Japanese way. Most of their ingredients are bought locally in Japanese stores except for some that they have to order directly from Japan like the hand-pulled noodles.

Montera, who has been Furusato’s cook since it opened its doors almost 18 years ago, had been trained in Japanese cooking even when he was still working in the Philippines. He oversees the preparation of your food once you order, with most of the time Sawada supervising to make sure the taste remains authentic.

Furusato has earned positive reviews on American travel website TripAdvisor Inc., which provides feedback on travel-related content. Furusato was reviewed in five different languages, English, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and Russian—some of Saipan’s target market in the highly competitive tourism industry.

Furusato is one of the oldest restaurants on the island. It enjoyed the days of economic boom and remained on Saipan during the years of the slump, making it a part of the CNMI’s history. And with the local economy on the rebound, they are hoping to earn a share of the tourism pie and continue to serve great food in a warm and cozy Japanese dining experience.

Furusato is open from 11:30am to 2pm during lunch, and 6pm to 11pm at dinnertime from Mondays to Sundays. For more information or reservations, call 233-3333.