Ni Hao, Oishii Tokyo Biyori is a clever blend of Chinese and Japanese that could be translated as “Hello, Delicious Days in Tokyo.” This is the original title of a manga series whose first installment was published in May 2025 in Japan. The work is “drawn from the imagination of a mangaka who depicts the daily life of a foreigner in Japan through the lens of food,” as described by the Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun.
The author, Zon, a 29-year-old Chinese national, draws on his own experiences, sprinkling in fictional elements and references to current events. He aims to show “how foreigners we encounter on the streets of Tokyo live,” for example, through a scene of tasting a small bread in the city.
Hailing from Chengdu, in central China, Zon arrived in Japan in 2018. He trained in Kyoto, at a higher school to fulfill a childhood dream of becoming a mangaka. He now lives in Tokyo and works with foreign students while publishing his work on the Japanese manga website To-ti.
Context: The story revolves around a mangaka’s depiction of an outsider’s life in Japan through a culinary perspective.
Fact Check: The title of the manga series is “Ni Hao, Oishii Tokyo Biyori.”
Between Geopolitical Tensions and Pleasures
Zon’s love for cuisine shines through his work. According to Zon, food is a transnational link that allows readers to identify with the characters. “Eating is essential for living,” he argues.
“I wish to represent something universal, accessible to everyone, regardless of nationality.”
In his previous manga publication in 2019, Zon had already touched on themes of everyday life, focusing on the city of Kyoto for a Chinese website.
The release of “Ni Hao, Oishii Tokyo Biyori” comes at a time of worsening Sino-Japanese relations since the remarks of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on the Taiwan issue, which angered Beijing in November 2025.
Zon received a video call from his father asking him to keep a low profile when rumors spread in China advising to “not go to Japan,” a “dangerous” country.
“Zon also felt the consequences [of the geopolitical climate] at work. The number of Chinese students in Japan, which had decreased significantly due to the coronavirus pandemic, had been rising again in recent years. Until Takaichi’s statements on Taiwan caused another drop,” the newspaper reports.
Through his manga, Zon aims to show that living in Tokyo as a foreigner comes with its challenges, but also its pleasures. The series currently has five episodes.
