by Elizabeth Andoh Botanically a fruit, not a vegetable, eggplant (Solanum melongena) is a member of the nightshade family (as is the tomato and potato). Thought to have originated in India thousands of years ago, the Chinese were probably the first to make use of eggplant in a culinary manner. Widely known throughout Asia, eggplant…

A review by John Dwaine McKenna of Barry Lancet’s latest book Although prognostication and predicting the future isn’t what we normally do here at the MBR, there’s always exceptions, and this is one.  I’m gonna stick my neck all the way out to the cut-on-the-dotted-line tattoo and forecast the near future.  In about a week…

by Gail Rieke Japanese design demonstrates its genius in myriad ways when it comes to reusing materials. The pottery town of Tokename in Aichi Prefecture has an area of town called Dokanzaka that is paved with recycled clay rings and walls of recycled imperfect shochu bottles. This street transforms into an installation piece. Often old…

Cetaceans in the Sea of Okhotsk By Mark Brazil Blue above then blue below. Viewed from just below the pass at Mt Mokoto on the northern rim of the Kussharo Caldera, a low sea of cloud blankets Kussharo-ko, Japan’s largest caldera lake, from view. Beyond the rugged, forested far rim of the caldera to the…

There was, in late June, in Sacramento California, an unprecedented event: a seminar ran by a very prominent player in the Japanese sake-making world. It was a seminar taught by Japanese master sake brewers for the 15 or so craft sake producing companies in North America. It was, as might be expected, very, very cool….

My first teacher in Japan: Mari Horie by Nancy Craft The news headlines about this summer’s brutal heat wave in Kyoto reminded me of the first summer I spent there 32 years ago. I had spent a magical 3 weeks in Kyoto during cherry blossom season a few years before, and that had led to…

Stagiaire, literally “trainee” in French, often refers to short kitchen stints where a cook works for free.  This labor exchange is generally to learn from a great chef or as part of the process to obtain a job.  I was in Tokyo for the former. The only issue was I had no contacts, knew no…

by Gail Rieke,  Japan Living Arts, artist-at-large A joy like none other… returning to Japan over and over… camera in hand… eyes and heart wide open a stroll down Teramchi Street in Kyoto… collage of asking for blessing the collaboration of people and nature paints masterpieces on the walls… Kanazawa… the whole town seems asleep…

by Mora Chartrand, the Foodies’ Foodie Wappado, a haven for those who yearn for a meal that expresses the terroir of the northern Kyoto countryside. Ōhara, a sleepy, agricultural hamlet just outside of Kyoto, is best known to visitors as the home of Jakko-in and Sanzenin temples, among others. It’s hard to match the rural…

by Akemi Koyama, Cultural Ambassador Restaurant in Hitachinaka city serves only one special prix fixe hamaguri meal.  Hamaguri is Japanese for clam, I mean a huge clam that is a size of the palm of a hand. I stopped with friends at Hamaguri-ya on the way to Fukushima from Haneda airport.  It was a pleasant…