In the morning, you awake to a cheerful “Ohayo gozaimasu!” (“Good morning!”) at your Japanese homestay. What awaits you for your first breakfast? Japanese pastries? Um, a sushi omelette? Instead, you’re served”¦grilled fish with rice. You might think jet lag is playing tricks on your mind and this is actually lunch or dinner. But no, it’s the traditional asa gohan (breakfast).

The foods traditionally eaten by inhabitants of the Land of the Rising Sun first thing in the morning may come as a surprise to those unfamiliar with the culture. Although a lot of Japanese families now eat many western standards like cereal and toast, the indigenous fare is what many North Americans would consider appropriate for lunch or dinner. Some might think mackerel, rice, and soup are too heavy or too salty to start the day off with. But it’s actually not that different from eating bacon, ham, or even steak and hash browns, as served in North American diners.

Although Yutaka Yamamoto, a chef at the National Nikkei Heritage Centre’s Hi Genki restaurant (6680 Southoaks Crescent, Burnaby), doesn’t make Japanese-style breakfast at the restaurant, he does eat it at home every day.

In an interview at the restaurant, Yamamoto explained that although dishes vary from region to region in his homeland, common staples are miso soup, fish, rice, and tsukemono (Japanese pickles). Additions can include wakame (kelp), seasonal vegetables, potatoes, natto (fermented soybeans), umeboshi (pickled plums), kintoki-mame (sweet beans), and daikon. Other favourites are tamago-gohan (raw egg and soy sauce poured over rice), which is sometimes served with katsuobushi (bonito flakes), and asagayu (a congee-like rice porridge).

Yet in sushi-happy, izakaya-hungry, yoshoku-crazy Vancouver, restaurants that serve the traditional Japanese breakfast remain a rarity. Where can you go if you’re a homesick student or a former English teacher who’s missing Japan, or if you just want to try it?

There are a few options.

The elegant Fleuri Restaurant in the Sutton Place Hotel (845 Burrard Street) serves the traditional version in a bento box (a mode of presentation usually reserved for lunches). The box contains miso soup with small tofu chunks and seaweed, lightly seared B.C. salmon on a bed of julienned carrots, tsukemono, raw or poached eggs, umeboshi, and a bowl of rice with nori (dried seaweed). At $26, this isn’t the usual rise ’n’ shine starter. But it might be something to keep in mind for a morning meeting with a Japanese businessperson or a special guest you want to impress.

At bright and breezy Griffin’s in the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver (900 West Georgia Street), the buffet’s full-breakfast option (served daily until 10:30 a.m.) allows you to choose from both the western selections and the Japanese ones. The latter section is stocked with platters of tsukemono, umeboshi, salmon, ginger, tamagoyaki (a type of rolled omelette), and raw and boiled eggs. There’s also rice and miso soup (with green onions on the side), along with nori. At $28, this one’s best for hefty appetites and budgets.

The most reasonably priced and authentic option is the Japanese breakfast menu at Tenhachi in the kitschy Shaughnessy Village hotel (1125 West 12th Avenue). Unfortunately, the gaudy ’70s-style décor, left over from the restaurant’s previous tenant, leaves much to be desired. The menu, which features authentic items not found at other local Japanese restaurants, deserves better. It’s one of the few places where you can order ochazuke (green tea poured over seasoned rice) and tsukemono ($3.95) in the morning.

Combos ($7.95 each, served from 7 a.m. to noon) offer rice, miso soup, seaweed tsukudani simmered in soy sauce, tsukemono, tamagoyaki, and various side dishes like kinpira gobo (braised burdock root) served with a choice of main dish: natto, grated daikon with whitebait, grated yam, tofu, or salmon. Items are presented in individual bowls served together on a tray, and are accompanied by green tea. The first three main dishes are best saved for experienced palates. The grated yam and daikon have a porridgelike consistency and a flavour that’s challenging for newbies. For the uninitiated, the salmon combo is the safest place to start.

Another affordable option is to purchase the ingredients at a Japanese specialty-foods store like Fujiya (various locations; see www.fujiya.ca/ ), Izumi-Ya (160–7971 Alderbridge Way, Richmond), Tama Organic Life (734 Marine Drive, North Vancouver), or Minna No Konbiniya (1238 Robson Street) and assemble them at home.

Itadakimasu!