Spreading the Joy of Koji and Fermented Foods

I’ve always been a curious and inquisitive type. I spent three months studying in Osaka prior to graduating from university. A friend who I met there suggested that I spend a year in Japan working as an English teacher, so that’s why I came back the second time. There were lots of other foreigners where I was living. Most of them were here for work, either as English teachers or in the financial sector. And it struck me that very few of them seemed to be interested in the sort of unique experiences that can be had only in Japan. The third time I came to Japan I had a working visa and I was doing jobs such as editor and PR advisor. That’s when I met my wife and got my first taste of home-style Japanese cuisine from eating together with her family. Up until then, all I knew about Japanese food was things like udon, sushi and katsudon. At my wife’s place I was introduced to culinary delights such as shisomaki (miso paste wrapped in beefsteak leaf). It was completely new to me; I had no idea that Japanese cooking extended to flavors such as this. Little by little I began discovering new types of food, as well as the fundamental idea of a meal as a bowl of rice surrounded by lots of little dishes, and much more about the Japanese way of life. When I was in Japan the second time, I had been very keen to experience the unique aspects of life in Japan?and now I was able to do just that. In my younger days I wasn’t particularly healthy, and I was always thinking I should do something about it. But it wasn’t until I came to Japan that I actually started to feel healthy, even though I hadn’t made any major changes to my lifestyle. When I first came to Japan, I was a student and I wasn’t too fussed about what I ate because I didn’t have much money. Even so, I noticed that I felt much better in Japan. And I wondered why that was so. When I thought about it, I had a truly terrible diet during my teenage years back in America. I’d have cereal and donuts for breakfast, and hamburgers or pizza for dinner. Up until the age of 20 I made no effort whatsoever to eat vegetables; my diet was almost exclusively meat.

Learning how to make sake taught me a great deal about fermentation. At Terada Honke brewery in Kozakimachi in Chiba prefecture, they showed me how the sake exists alongside microorganisms. I started visiting breweries all over Japan to see just how many different types of sake there are in the country. Before long, I was hooked! Sake is made from rice and water. It’s a product of the farm, and it’s also an integral part of religion. It’s reflected in so many aspects of Japanese culture: the food, the festivals, even the cups and bowls. So I always say, if you want to know the real Japan, start with some sake.

In the same way that the Slow Food movement inspired by the Italian approach to meals has gained considerable traction around the world, I believe that there is an important message in Japanese cuisine about the way in which we interact with food. The Japanese term for Japanese food is washoku; interestingly, the character for wa also means peace. In other words, the very concept of Japanese food denotes gathering together to eat in peace. By providing the food, the place, and the sense of togetherness that makes this possible, we are creating the ultimate learning space. But most tourists coming to Japan would be quite unaware of this aspect of Japanese food. So I’ve made it my personal mission to show them what it’s all about.