each japanese region has a preferred way of cooking sukiyaki. japan can be divided into two regions. the big variation is between "kansai" (western japan) and "kanto" (eastern japan). in the kanto (tokyo) region, sukiyaki is based on "gyunabe" that was in fashion in "meiji" period. before cooking sukiyaki, people prepare the soup stock mixing a seasonings (soy sauce, sugar, "sake" and "mirin") together. they then stew beef in it.