April 21, 2016
I’m happy to report that we had a successful fundraising event for Tohoku last month. This was our first collaboration with UC Berkeley’s Center for Japanese Studies, and we’d all agree that it was awesome. Despite the massive rain that poured down on downtown Berkeley on the night of March 12, we had about 100 […]
March 15, 2016
March sakes ship today for Sake Gumi, our monthly sake subscription club. If you like what’s on deck here, you should join! On March 11, 2011, the Tohoku region was hit by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake. As if that wasn’t enough, a tsunami that hit a maximum height of 133 ft, traveling 6 miles inland, caused […]
February 22, 2016
One of the most crucial stops of our visit to Japan in January was Safecast HQ in Shibuya. As you may know, Umami Mart is holding a fundraiser TOHOKU SPRINGS BACK, an event commemorating the Tohoku/Fukushima disaster in 2011. We are marking the 5th year since the earthquake and ensuing nuclear power plant disaster — instead […]
February 9, 2016
It’s hard to believe that it has been nearly five years since the devastating tsunami disaster in Tohoku. The earthquake struck on March 11, 2011 and news traveled quickly to California. I recall watching footage of towns in northern Japan immersed in water — people being dragged downstream (many who had passed on), while people stood on rooftops of their homes, trying not […]
March 12, 2015
The misokoshi is a tool that we have sold since we first opened our shop. It looks like a mini ramen strainer, but alas, it is for straining miso in liquid. Namely, it works perfectly for miso soup. Here’s a video made by Yoko, starring yours truly, of how to make miso soup using a […]