November 1, 2011
By Sasha Wizansky On October 21st, chef Kanji Nakatani took a small group of the OPENharvest crew on a trip to the Hokutei Fish Market to visit fish purveyor, Katsuhiro Sato. Apparently, Sato was kicked out of the main local fish market many years back and started his own small, maverick fish market, Hokutei Suisan. […]
October 31, 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QAxQCC8bVxI&feature=player_embedded I spent the weekend with my good friend Naoko in her cabin in the woods this weekend in Nagano. We had a wonderful time catching up, sleeping, going to the onsen (hot springs), reading, and of course, watching tv. This commercial is by far the best thing I’ve seen in a long time. The […]
October 28, 2011
Look at this tuna head! It was fucking HUGE–I could easily fit my own head into its mouth. Its eyeball was so clear, it looked as though it were still alive, looking deep into my soul, prodding me to try its precious ruby red flesh. Sorry I have not been blogging so much. Every day […]
October 27, 2011
The OPENharvest group visited the Hachisu residence in Kodama-gun in Saitama Prefecture. We enjoyed a Japanese farm food meal which included fresh edamame, natto, fall vegetable soup, ohitashi (blanched spinach) and mochi. After the meal, Harigaya-san and his troupe performed a shishimai (lion dance).
October 24, 2011
At 5am on a Thursday morning, groggy and jetlagged, 20 of us OPENharvest participants, with Food Light Project members piled into three vans headed for Niigata prefecture. As we drove through the quiet morning streets of Tokyo, we eagerly anticipated the adventures ahead. Three hours and several rest stops later, we made it to Uonuma, […]
June 1, 2011
Oh great, here we go again. Another blog post about Japanese food packaging design. But you know what? The reality is that the Japanese kick our butts many times over when it comes to intelligent, fun and groundbreaking ways to wrap something edible. Ok, so there actually are American designers at work behind the scenes […]
May 12, 2011
I am home in Berkeley after taking a week-long road trip through the American southwest with fellow Umamimart writer Anders, bookended by a five-day trip in NYC. I am so excited to be back in my own kitchen that I’ve stocked up on everything from soft shell crab to chicken thighs for curry. But those […]
March 24, 2011
For a few days after the quake hit in Sendai, public television networks in Japan refrained from running advertising due to the instability of the whole situation. I remember a similar commercial-less time period immediately after 9/11. To fill up time in between news reports, Japanese networks ran a series of public service announcements by […]
March 17, 2011
These photos my friends in Tokyo sent me gave me a glimpse of what is going on there. The images have also reshaped my idea of what to include in my pathetic earthquake kit consisting of some nonperishable food and 4 gallons of water. (Note to self: buy sweet things and dried foods). Most of […]
February 17, 2011
Mottainai is said in Japan when something perfectly usable is abandoned or sent to the trashcan. In the past ten years, Japan has seen a trend in awareness regarding waste and reusing whenever possible. It’s ironic that this has become a trend because the idea of reuse goes way back and is intrinsic to Japanese […]