KYOTO, Japan -- I'm going to talk briefly about the bonus that comes when you pay many hundreds of dollars to fly back and forth to Japan economy class:

Jet lag.

If, like me, you never sleep well under the best of circumstances and you now are sleeping less well, the feeling that with the next step your leg might not be long enough to reach the pavement can last two weeks.

Hallucinatory dreams are an accompaniment to this condition.

On the first night home, rising in the pitch dark, I had to find my way through the vast halls of the Todai-ji Temple at Nara to get to my bathroom. The biggest Buddha in Japan was now sitting cross-legged in the shadow of my study, which had expanded to accommodate him. It was more interesting than frightening.

The next night was equally curious. When I threw back the covers, people on our tour tumbled out from under the sheets. There were Gus and Amalia, Sally and Mike, Magda and Rolf, Suzanne, Roxanne, Maggie and Gene. Janet McCall, executive director of the Society for Contemporary Craft who sponsored the trip, was there, and so was our guide, Tadao Arimoto. As I had done during our time together in Japan, I kept an eye on the bald spot at the back of his head and followed it out to the hall where, by the light of the moon, everyone disappeared.

When I went to work that morning Tadao Arimoto was still on my mind. He was the most intensely Japanese of all our Japanese experiences. It was through him that our understanding of the country was filtered, and because of him that so many positive impressions were made. Tadao could switch from English to Japanese in mid-word. His smile was so broad it took up half his face. He made us little books to hang around our necks from a string. On each page of the book was a statement in English, translated into Japanese. One of the questions was: "Where is the public bathroom?"

Once, when Tadao took us to a convenience store with public restrooms, we returned to find Tadao up on a ladder, helping two women employees replace fluorescent bulbs. At dinner one night, we asked Tadao to tell us about an exhibition of his furniture at the offices of the Consulate General of Japan in New York. He blushed and demurred. Finally, pressed, he said simply, "I try to reveal the lasting beauty of the wood."

In this effort he continues to study. When, visiting Kyoto's exquisite Katsura Imperial Villa, you looked around for Tadao, he was either on his knees or flat on his back studying the various constructions. It didn't seem to bother the rather imperious guide who spoke only Japanese and made one request of Tadao: "When you translate, please don't speak too loudly."

Tadao brooded over his choice of restaurants. He wanted them to reflect the full range of Japanese cuisine. I've been to Japan twice and am no closer to mastering the cuisine now than I was 15 years ago. My most memorable Japanese meals have been at restaurants Nobu in New York and Nobu in Las Vegas, where the food was terrific. In both places, mystified by the menu, we left the choices up to the waiter. In Las Vegas the Japanese chef came over to the table and bowed. We bowed back. We were sure it meant that we had spent an awful lot of money on dinner. Not at all. When the check arrived it was $45 per person, and dinner included some very fine Asahi Super Dry beer. In the formal Japanese way, the chef's appearance was only to show his pleasure in cooking for us.

A paragraph will exhaust what I know about Japanese cuisine. The traditional diet has a limited number of components, but the range of these has been extended by the innovative treatment of essentials: gifts from the sea and the stream (often served raw), rice, beans (especially soy), noodles, fruits, sea vegetables and tea. What they do with these ingredients gives a cook pause. For a variety of presentation they beat, bury, bruise, burn, grind, age, chop, mix, soak, dry and, on formal occasions, turn ingredients into artworks.

Eating well is factored into the longevity of the nation. A recent New York Times article said that Japan's life expectancy is the longest in the world for both sexes: 85.2 years for women and 78.3 for men. Japan also has the world's largest population over 100. (Ever-increasing social security payments present a problem for the government.)

All the members of our tour lost weight. Without the habit of bread and butter or dessert, I lost 5 pounds and my friend Gene lost 6. In 11 days, the pounds just melted away.

Spinach With Sesame Dressing, Japanese Style

• 1 pound spinach, thoroughly rinsed
  
• 1 tablespoon salt
  
• 4 tablespoons sesame seeds
  
• 1 teaspoon superfine sugar
  
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
  
• 3 tablespoons dashi (stock made with bonito flakes), chicken stock or water

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add the salt and spinach. Blanch 10 to 20 seconds until leaves just wilt. Transfer to bowl of cold water using large slotted spoon. Drain, gently squeeze out water; chop coarsely.

For dressing, heat frying pan over medium heat, add sesame seeds. Stir and shake pan constantly. As seeds turn golden, transfer to a mortar and pestle. Grind until just crushed.

Transfer to large bowl and add sugar, soy sauce and dashi, stock or water to the crushed seeds, blend thoroughly. Add spinach to the dressing and stir gently. Season to taste. Divide dressed spinach among 4 small bowls. Makes 4 servings.

"The Food Lovers' Atlas of the World" by Martha Rose Shulman (Firefly Books, $35)

First Published: July 4, 2004, 4:00 a.m.