Japan Eats!

On the season premiere of Japan Eats, host Akiko Katayama is joined by Douglas Diaz , a visual artist whose work has been strongly influenced by the Japanese countryside. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

On the season finale of  Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Chef Mutsuko Soma, formerly of Seattle's Miyabi 45th. Soma studied the age-old art of making soba in Japan and brought her noodle-making skills to the west coast. Currently, Soma experiments at her in-home soba studio, and curates her series of Kamonegi soba popups. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privac...

Today on Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by David Kinch of Los Gatos' Manresa. David tells us about cooking in the midst of California's various microclimates, a chef's relationship to farmers, and what he draws from Japanese tradition. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

This week on Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama is joined by Luca Catalfamo, chef and owner of Casa Ramen, the first restaurant dedicated to ramen in Milan, Italy. While working as a chef in cities such as Sydney and London, Catalfamo learned about Japanese cuisine, which helped to hone his ramen skills, from learning about dashi to Japanese cooking techniques. Thereafter, he decided to open a ramen...

This week on Japan Eats, host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Edwyn Ferrari, head chef of Great Northern Food Hall. "Scandinavian" might not be the first thing you think as you're considering which culture's cuisine to dine at, but that's what patrons get at this food hall – a group of counters and stands – within the commuter hub that is Grand Central Terminal. See Privacy Policy at htt...

This week on Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama is joined by Shota Nakajima, the chef and owner of Naka in Seattle. Chef Shota began his culinary journey at the age of sixteen, working for a well-acclaimed sushi restaurant in his hometown of Seattle, WA. At the age of eighteen, Nakajima moved to Osaka, Japan to learn about the art of Japanese cuisine. In Japan, Nakajima had the opportunity to work f...

This week on Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Leonard Phillips, the owner of Ambassador Wines & Spirits in Midtown Manhattan. Leonard’s original calling in life was to be a biochemist and ultimately become a physician in the military, but he found his true passion in working for the business his family started in 1973. In addition to wine and liquor, Ambassador's sel...

Elizabeth Andoh was born and raised in America and is not ethnically Japanese, but Japan has been her home for more than four decades. She received her formal culinary training from the Yanagihara School of Traditional Japanese Cuisine in Tokyo. In 1972, she began her own culinary arts program, A Taste of Culture , that combines spicy tidbits of food lore with practical tips and skill-building les...

This week on  Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama is joined by Stefen Ramirez of Tea Dealer s, which aims to introduce premium teas to America by offering only rare, single origin teas from Japan, Korea, China, Taiwan, and India and pairing them with contemporary artisanal ceramics from around the world. Stefen first started in the tea business at the NYC flagship of one of Japan’s largest tea comp...

This week on  Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama is joined by Hiroko Shimbo , an authority on Japanese cuisine who has earned world-wide recognition. She is a chef-instructor at respected culinary schools, a consulting chef to diverse food service industries, and a cookbook author based in the United States since 1999. Her latest book, Hiroko’s American Kitchen: Cooking with Japanese Flavors , was...

Today on Japan Eats, we're joined by restaurant consultant Atsushi Nakahigashi, who's swinging by New York all the way from Kyoto. Nakahigashi is from a long line of chefs and restaurateurs, but before settling on a career in food, he tried his hand at professional bass fishing for several years. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/pri...

This week on Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Tomoko Kato, an alum of Bouley and Le Bernardin who is behind the dessert bar at Patisserie Tomoko. A unique pastry shop in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Patisserie Tomoko combines French and European style pastries with a touch of Japanese inspired tastes and flavors. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California...

This week on Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by managers Luke Davin and Emma Kramer of Osakana fish market. Osakana is a Japanese-style fish retailer dedicated to providing high-quality, local, and seasonal seafood to the community. Here, customers will find fresh, expertly sourced fish, prepared and presented with respect by the team behind Okonomi. They offer a careful s...

On the season premiere of Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Henry Sidel, president of Joto Sake. Joto is Japanese for “highest level," and is the exclusive importer for several multi-generational, family-owned breweries in Japan. Their bottles feature English-language labels with producer names, locations and helpful tasting notes. With distribution in over 35 states, and...

This week on Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Shingo Gokan, head bartender of Angel’s Share and winner of the Bacardi Global Legacy Cocktail Competition. Tune in to hear them discuss how he began bartending in Japan at the age of 18 and came to New York in 2006 not knowing a word of English, only to become the “World’s Best Bartender” a short time later. See Privacy Poli...

This week on Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Chris Johnson, aka The Sake Ninja. As a sake sommelier, Johnson is one of the foremost experts on sake in the United States. Tune in to hear them discuss the differences between sake varieties, food pairings, sake judging competitions, and more! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at...

This week on Japan Eats, host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Jesse Falowitz, whose long travels around Asia finally lead to his opening a shōchū business in Japan. Falowitz calls shōchū the predecessor to whiskey in Japan, and puts its flavor profile "somewhere between a sake, a whiskey, and a vodka." He tells us all about how the drink is made, why single distillation matters, and shōc...

This week on Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Japanese tea ceremony instructor Keiko Kitazawa Koch. Keiko was born and raised in Nara, Japan, a historically and culturally rich part of Japan. She has carried a deep sense of Japanese tradition since childhood. Her first education in Japanese tea ceremony started with the Musyanokoji-style (武者小路流). She was trained in...

This week on Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Chef Shigetoshi Nakamura, who recently debuted his first restaurant in the United States. Hailed as one of only 4 "Ramen Gods" Chef Naka experienced colossal success in Japan after he opened Nakamura-Ya when he was 22. Always seeking to share his craft with America, he partnered up with Sun Noodle, the leading US-based ramen...

This week on Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Tama Matsuoka Wong , a forager, weed eater, meadow doctor, lawyer and mother of three. She is the author of the backyard field guide and cookbook Foraged Flavor , which was nominated for a James Beard award in 2013. After graduating from Harvard Law School and serving more than 25 years as a financial services lawyer in Tokyo...

This week on Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Everett Kennedy Brown, a photographer working in Japan for the past 28 years whose work has appeared in National Geographic , Geo , Time , Newsweek , Le Monde , Der Spiegel , The New York Times , and more. He is also interested in exploring techniques of the glass plate collodion photographic process, in an effort to capture...

Filmmaker Erik Shirai joins us in the studio to tell us all about the making of his latest documentary, The Birth of Saké, which grants an inside look at the art of sake creation in a Japanese brewery. Shirai and his producer managed to get access to the brewery at a time of transition, as a younger brewmaster was starting to take greater responsibility. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/pri...

On this week's episode of Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by ice sculptor Shintaro Okamoto. He is the owner of Okamoto Studio , a New York-based collective best known for their design, production, and consultation of everything made of crystal clear ice. Father-son Takeo and Shintaro Okamoto make up the founding core of the group, which was formed in 2003 with a mission of...

This week on Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Kumiko Jitsukawa, the founder of Ki-Chu New York , a traditional Japanese tableware company dedicated to enhancing appreciation of the Japanese dining experience. Jitsukawa was born in Yokohama, Japan. She studied space design at Musashino Art University in Tokyo, moved to New York in 2001, and studied at New York School of I...

This week on Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Zach Mangan, the founder of the kettl tea compay. Sourced from Nagano’s famed buckwheat, the hills of Hoshinomura, and elsewhere in Japan, kettl’s top-tier teas are served at New York restaurants such as Atera and Brushstroke and sold online for at-home consumption. Their catalog of clients have been awarded 16 Michelin stars...