Forget 5-star restaurants and celebrity chefs - the best place in Japan to try Japanese food is in a department store

Harrison Jacobs/Business Insider

A day's worth of food from a depachika in Tokyo, which cost less than $15.

Japan, perhaps more than other destinations, is a place you travel with your taste buds.

There are so many local specialties, from sushi and yakitori to okonomiyaki and shumai, that it'd be a shame to not try everything Japan's culinary tradition offers.

The best place to find and sample Japanese food in Japan is actually in Tokyo's department stores.

Stores like Tokyu, Mitsukoshi, and Nihonbashi Takashimaya are like miniature cities unto themselves, spanning five or more floors and selling everything you can possibly imagine. But it's in the basement where the real magic happens.

There you will find Japan's depachikas, sprawling fancy food halls with all kinds of Japanese and international cuisine.

Here's what it's like: