Japan Eats!

This week on Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Andy Moran, manager at Japan Premium Beef , a specialty butcher shop in New York City that sells both imported Japanese Wagyu and domestic Wagyu raised on its own farm in Oregon. Tune is as they debunk some popular myths about Wagyu, and find out what makes this beef so special. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy...

On this week's episode of  Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama is joined by Kenji Ichishima, owner of the Ichishima Sake Brewer y. Born and raised in Shibata City, Kenji Ichishima grew up around the brewery that had been run by his forefathers for generations. Encouraged by his grandfather, who had also spent time outside of Japan, Kenji came to the United States and spent time in Atlanta, Georgia...

This week on Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Stephen Globus, a native New Yorker who has long been involved with cultural fusion and interchange between Japan and the United States. Through the Globus Washitsu organization, Stephen and his brothers have sponsored events at various eminent institutions including the Japan Society, the Asia Society, and many other NYC loc...

This week on Japan Eats, Akiko is joined by sake expert Chizuko Niikawa-Helton. Ms. Niikawa, grew up on the Temple grounds of the Zen Buddhist Temple Gihozan Hosho Ji, located in the finest Rice and Sake producing prefecture of Japan, Akita. chizAfter graduating, Takushoku University and with additional studies at Esmond Japon, a fashion college. Ms. Niikawa embarked on a career in fashion as a fa...

On this week's episode of Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama is joined in the studio by Keizo Shimamoto, creator of the Original Ramen Burger . He has worked for Ivan Orkin and the mini ramen chain Bassanova, all while documenting his love affair with noodles on his blog, GO RAMEN! Keizo is also the subject of the short film Ramen Dreams , a chronicle of his extraordinary passion for ramen. See Priv...

On this week's episode of Japan Eats , Akiko is joined in the studio by Ruri Kippenbrock, the founder of wuhao newyork Inc. The company specializes in hand-made tenugui, Japanese cotton towels. These towels are not only for wiping your hands but also have a number of traditional uses and applications, not to mention overall well-being – tune in to learn more! See Privacy Policy at https://art19.co...

On this week's episode of Japan Eats , Akiko is joined in the studio by Robby Cook, the executive sushi chef of Morimoto in New York. Robby is also the co-author the of new book The Complete Guide to Sushi & Sashimi , which contains tips and techniques on how to properly create and indulge in sushi and sashimi at home. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Noti...

On this week’s episode of  Japan Eats , Akiko is joined in the studio by Todd Bellomy, brewer and co-founder of Dovetail Sake , Massachusetts’ first sake brewery. Prior to opening Dovetail, Bellomy worked in the American craft beer industry, as a chef, and even as a sword-making apprentice in the Saitama Prefecture of Japan. Tune in to hear all about his life as a sake brewer. “Our philosophy is,...

On this week’s episode of  Japan Eats , Akiko is joined in the studio by Yuji Haraguchi, owner of the restaurants Okonomi and YUJI Ramen. By day, Okonomi serves traditional Japanese ichiju-sansai set meals for breakfast and lunch. In the evenings, Okonomi becomes YUJI Ramen, and offers an à la carte menu of seafood-rich ramen and mazemen. Haraguchi is currently working to open Osakana , a Japanese...

On this week’s episode of  Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama welcomes guest Rona Tison, the senior vice president of corporate relations at ITO EN, to discuss making green tea a true part of American culture. Tison has extensive experience in the tea industry and has received Green Tea Certification from ITO EN. Prior to joining ITO EN, Tison worked extensively in the hotel and service industry whe...

On today’s episode of  Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama welcomes guest Gaku Shibata, owner of the restaurants Azasu and Yoppari in New York’s Lower East Side. They discuss Japanese gastropubs (izakaya), cup sake, and feeding sumo wrestlers.   See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info .

After discovering premium sake for the first time in 2005, today’s guest Tim Sullivan went on to found UrbanSake.com, which is now America’s longest-running sake website. Just two years later, he was awarded the title of “Sake Samurai” by the Japan Sake Brewer’s Association in recognition of his work promoting sake outside of Japan. Sullivan is now an instructor for the Sake School of America, and...

Chef Michael Anthony, Executive Chef of Gramercy Tavern and Untitled of the Union Square Hospitality Group talks with Japan Eats host Akiko Katayama about living in Tokyo right after graduating from college. The move changed the course of his life and career. Tune in to hear how Michael’s experience in Japan stayed with him even as he moved to France and back to the U.S.    > #### “That was one...

Over his 25­‐year career, Chef Takashi Yagihashi has been lauded by consumers and critics alike for his exquisite ways of melding contemporary French, Asian, and American cuisine, and today he is in studio with Akiko Katayama for a brand new episode of Japan Eats . A native of Mito, Japan, the self-taught Yagihashi was working in a local restaurant when the owner asked him to relocate to the State...

John’s interest in cooking began with his curiosity in his grandmother’s expansive garden, learning early about the importance of seasonality, flavor and balance. At age 14, John moved to South Korea for three years where he not only became fluent in Korean, but truly embraced Asian flavors, language and spirits. After nearly two decades running a successful law practice and firm in Manhattan, Joh...

Tune in to Japan Eats as host Akiko Katayama is in studio with Chef Marco Moreira. Brazilian-born chef Marco Moreira arrived in New York City in 1982 eager to explore the city and immerse himself in an exciting, multi-ethnic culinary scene.  Through an inspired twist of fate, he ended up training as a sushi chef at the very beginning of the sushi craze.  From the start, he proved his skill in this...

Japan Eats is brand new this week with host Akiko Katayama in studio with food critic and author, Robert Sietsema.  Presently editor for Eater, Robert shares how he transitioned from the rock and roll scene to food writing and adds his unique view of Japanese restaurants in New York City. Initially focusing on the best ethnic eats in the city, Robert dissects what the term means to him and how he...

Japan Eats returns for 2016 with none other than the man who wrote the book on science and cooking, Harold McGee. His career defining book,  On Food & Cooking , has been referenced as a cooking bible for a generation of forward thinking chefs and culinary professionals. Discover how Harold was inspired to make a career of researching and writing about what happens when we cook, prepare and con...

Known as “The Sake Guy,” and “The Sake Evangelist,” John Gauntner is recognized as the world’s leading non-Japanese sake expert and this week he joins in studio for the season wrap-up of Japan Eats .  He chats with host Akiko Katayama about his residency in Japan since 1988, he (necessarily) both speaks and reads Japanese fluently, and is well known in the sake industry as the window to making sak...

Wylie Dufresne is in studio with Akiko this week for an intriguing episode of Japan Eats !  Hinting at his new project opening in the new year, Wylie explains how he found himself in the restaurant industry and why working in the industry is likened to playing a team sport.  What does Wylie think about being considered a predominant figure in the modernist/molecular gastronomy food realm? What’s h...

“Kampai!” or “Cheers!” This week on Japan Eats host Akiko Katayama welcomes Stephen Lyman to the studio talking all about the Japanese alcoholic beverage shochu.  Founder and editor of Kampai! , Stephen explains his devotion to shochu, of which he is an expert and shares his travels to Kyushu (where 90%+ of authentic shochu is made) where he visited 6 distilleries and tried 262 different shochu (t...

Have you ever heard of natto? Otherwise known as a traditional Japanese food made from soybeans fermented with Bacillus subtilis, natto is known for its powerful smell, strong flavor, and slimy texture typically eaten with a bowl of rice, and today it’s the topic of discussion on _ Japan Eats _.  Host Akiko Katayama welcomes Ann Yonetani, founder of NYrture Food to the studio talking about her pio...

How does one go from a food writer to a restaurant owner? Find out on a brand new episode of Japan Eats . Akiko Katayama is joined by Harris Salat, Ganso’s Managing Partner, journalist and restaurateur. A Brooklyn native, Harris is the author of numerous articles about Japanese cuisine, and has trained in Japanese restaurant kitchens in New York, Tokyo and Kyoto. He and Tadashi Ono are the co-auth...

This week on  Japan Eats , host Akiko Katayama is in studio with Sebastian Beckwith, owner at In the Pursuit of Tea. In Pursuit of Tea is a company with the mission to explore remote, traditional areas of tea production and find the finest teas available. In this episode, Sebastian talks about his experience working with and distributing tea to restaurants, the history of tea and the fascinating p...

This week on _ Japan Eats _, host Akiko Katayama is in studio with author, cook, and farmer, Nancy Singleton Hachisu.  Leaving California for Japan in the late 1980’s, fully intending to learn Japanese in one year and return to the States for graduate school, Nancy shares how she instead fell in love with a Japanese organic farmer.  Now living with her husband and three sons in their eighty-five-y...