Junko Ito
Born in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, Junko is an editor and translator of the Korean language. She visited South Korea in 1990 and now runs a translation and editing agency. In 2017, she launched 『中くらいの友だち——韓くに手帖』, a magazine dedicated to discussing, savoring and enjoying South Korea. She is the author of『韓国　現地からの報告』,『韓国カルチャー』,『続・韓国カルチャー　描かれた「歴史」と社会の変化』and the translator of『搾取都市、ソウル』by Hyemi Lee. She also wrote commentary for the Japanese translation of Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo.

Korean dramas and movies, which have gained popularity globally, often feature scenes of meals, which stimulate the viewers’ appetite. If you search online for “Korean drama meals,” you can easily find recipes to recreate meals that have appeared in popular dramas. Many books have been published on this subject. We also see that people are flocking to Koreatowns around the world and paying a visit to South Korea in search of authentic gourmet meals.

Why do Korean dramas and movies often feature dining scenes? We can find part of the answer in 『続・韓国カルチャー　描かれた「歴史」と社会の変化』written by Junko Ito. Her book examines social changes through entertainment in South Korea and provides detailed explanations of the significance behind the meals depicted in popular dramas and films. Junko has authored numerous books on South Korea and has been introducing Korean culture to Japan for many years. We spoke to her about food culture and history in South Korea, delving into topics ranging from the increasing trend of solo dining and travel in recent years to the perspectives of the Korean diaspora communities.

Exploring the exquisite way of eating and living

－－When I watch videos and films from South Korea, I come across many scenes of people eating food. It gives me the impression that people turn to food, whether they are feeling sad or happy. Is eating considered important in any situations in their daily life?

Junko Ito: For South Koreans, hunger is an extremely unfortunate condition, and eating is considered very important. For example, at work, it is customary to ask, “Have you eaten?” It is a form of greeting, but if you have not eaten, you are instantly invited to eat, no matter how busy you are. This is due to the history that it took a long time before people were able to eat good food. The Korean War destroyed the country and South Korea was one of the poorest countries in the world in 1960, where the economy was said to be worse than that of North Korea at that time.

－－When I think of Korean food, I envision people eating namul or small plates of food together. On the other hand, in Japan, eating alone is called “solo katsu (solo activity),” and is attracting a lot of attention. Are there any preconceptions about eating alone in Korea?

Junko: In South Korea, the Japanese dramas Solitary Gourmet and Late Night Diner were big hits from 2000 to 2010, inspiring people with the joy of eating alone. I hear that people travel to Japan to eat alone and enjoy the experience of solo travel. Along with that, the dining habits in South Korea are also evolving. Since seniority is so important in South Korea, dining with a large group of people can be cumbersome for young individuals. Additionally, there is no tradition of splitting the bill and the most senior person often ends up paying. That is probably why people feel like dining alone occasionally.

Chinese restaurants used to be extraterritorial havens where anyone could casually dine alone

－－In Japan, there have always been many restaurants where it’s possible to eat a meal alone, such as teishoku-ya (set meal restaurants). How about in South Korea?

Junko: In the past, Chinese restaurants were the only establishments where people could easily dine alone in South Korea. During those days, there were not many foreigners and the only option for foreign food was provided by Chinese restaurants run by the overseas Chinese. In a sense, it was considered somewhat “extraterritorial” or “outside the Korean cultural sphere,” so people did not feel self-conscious about eating alone.

Along with this, Chinese food was considered a feast for a special occasion. Many middle-aged and older people have fond memories of eating jajangmyeon (noodles with meat sauce) for birthdays and special occasions when they were young. In South Korea, as in other countries, family meals are prepared by the mother. But Chinese food was a special dish that mothers could not make. Nowadays in South Korea, you can eat food from all over the world, so I don’t think there is one foreign dish that is special. Pizza and chicken are popular among small children. There is a difference in the way South Koreans think of eating out in the past and now.

－－Were there any Japanese restaurants?

Junko: There have always been many Japanese restaurants in South Korea, especially during the presidency of Park Chung-hee, who was in power from 1963 to 1979, as he was a big fan of Japanese food. There were rumors that the former president was such an enthusiast of Japanese food that he even had sushi flown in from Japan. However, Japanese restaurants were primarily known for business dinners, making them less accessible for casual visits. Consequently, Chinese restaurants began offering Japanese dishes such as udon and omurice, which is a westernized everyday Japanese dish. In the 1990s, yakitori and robatayaki gained popularity.

It’s not just about being tasty; The food culture is deeply rooted in the local land and climate

－－Many of your books draw on thoughts and memories related to Korean cuisine. In your latest book, there is a section that refers to the South Korean movie Little Forest. You write about how Koreans love sujebi (dumpling soup), which is the equivalent of suiton in Japan. You wrote that while sujebi is well-suited to eat on a cold day in the middle of winter, many people eat it regardless of the weather, with some people saying they love to eat it on a rainy day. If you had to pick one Korean dish that is very dear to your heart, what would it be?

Junko: For me, it would be cold noodles. There are so many people in South Korea who are obsessed with cold noodles. First of all, cold noodle restaurants in South Korea were started by people from North Korea after liberation. Even today, many of the long-established cold noodle restaurants in Seoul were founded by people from North Korea. Some of my Korean friends tell me stories of their childhood memories of eating Pyongyang cold noodles with their father. Even for those who are not from North Korea, cold noodles are a special dish. It is like how people in Tokyo may have their preferred soba restaurant they swear by.

－－I have this impression that Korean food is healthy.  What is the concept behind the food?

Junko: In principle, South Koreans are health-conscious, guided by the notion that “you are what you eat.” It’s important to eat locally produced food that is prepared in a way that suits the region. This is a concept that also exists in Japan, and it differs from the idea of vegan or plant-based meals. The Chinese also share a similar perspective, probably as a result of their belief that “a balanced diet leads to a healthy body.” The food must be good for the body and the traditional dishes are considered well-suited for them.

－－Korean food is associated with garlic, but does it have any special meaning?

Junko: According to the legend of Dangun in Samguk Yusa (Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms), a book compiled during the Goryeo Dynasty, there is a story of a bear that ate garlic and mugwort and was transformed into a human being. Then the bear who became human slept with the son of the emperor and gave birth to the founder of the nation, thus giving birth to the nation. Therefore mugwort and garlic are important foods in Korea. It has been adopted as a health and beauty treatment in traditional Korean medicine. Conversely, chili peppers are said to have become popular only after the 18th century.

－－Does that mean that Korean food was not originally spicy?

Junko: During the Joseon Dynasty (1392-1876), kimchi was not spicy. Even today, chili peppers are rarely used when serving traditional Korean royal court cuisine. Chili peppers were introduced because there was originally a culture of eating garlic, and the two flavors complemented each other so well that Korean food gradually became spicier. It is said that spicy food, as we know it today, became popular after the Korean War. Korean food experts recently warned that the spiciness of Korean food is excessive nowadays. Even compared to 30 years ago when I first came to Korea, it seems to be getting spicier every year.

The strength of South Korea: co-creating with immigrants who are active abroad

－－The largest group of foreign tourists to South Korea is from Japan. Vice-versa, the largest number of foreign tourists visiting Japan is from South Korea. As for the Japanese tourists, they need to enjoy gourmet food. What are the main objectives of tourists from South Korea when they travel to Japan?

Junko: Most Japanese travel to South Korea with a specific purpose. They may like Korean food, actors, or artists, but many Koreans travel to Japan without a specific purpose. Many of them have visited Japan repeatedly with some visiting all of the prefectures. I have a Korean friend who has visited Saga many times and when I asked the reason, my friend told me it was because of the Saga Airport. Since the first international flight opened at Saga Airport was from South Korea, my friend’s first visit to Japan was part of a campaign to mark the opening of the airport. There are regional airports in Japan where the first international flight was from South Korea, and quite a few Koreans have a special attachment to the first place they visited in Japan. I recently went to Tsushima for work the other day. There are many immigrants from South Korea in this area. I asked a resident in his 60s, who has been living there for six years, why he moved to Japan. He replied, “Because the air quality in Seoul is no longer good.

－－I heard that Koreans have many relatives and friends outside of the country and that there is a Korean diaspora of 7 million people. You have started writing the series of articles titled『移動する人びと、刻まれた記憶』on this theme about how the Korean people have lived their lives while moving around the world. The articles feature various people’s histories at the intersection of Korean and world history. You are known for writings that capture Korean politics and economics, literature, movies, and dramas through broad perspectives or putting things under microscopic lenses, drawing out the voices of South Koreans in everyday life, in the field of education and cultural exchange between Japan and Korea. How did you come to choose the diaspora as your main theme lately?

Junko: The economic development of South Korea and its movies and dramas are gaining worldwide recognition and attention. How can a highly homogeneous country like South Korea produce a transnational culture that can compete on the world stage? I believe it is the accumulation of the rich variety of experiences of the people known as the Korean diaspora. It is the experience of hardship, effort, and success. If the driving force of the United States is the diversity and power of incoming immigrants, Korea’s strength lies in its collaboration with immigrants who are active abroad.

I believe that society needs flexibility and vitality. I sometimes wonder if Japan can learn from the diversity of incoming foreigners while making the best use of the strengths of Japanese people living abroad.

Photography Junko Ito
Translation Fumiko.M

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Obon Shokudo
Obon Shokudo is a vegan restaurant serving Japanese home-style cuisine in Portland, Oregon. The restaurant is owned and operated by a husband and wife team Humiko Hozumi and Jason Duffany. All menu items are plant-based, using farm-to-table, organic, and sustainable ingredients. The restaurant has developed environmentally friendly recipes that reduce food waste and, for example, use every bit of the edible parts of vegetables. They also ensure that organic food is affordable to anyone regardless of their income level and set their prices accordingly.
https://www.obonpdx.com/

Japanese vegan food that makes non-vegans content 

As we entered the restaurant, Jason Duffany, the owner of Obon Shokudo, smiled and greeted his friends, the husband and wife team who owns Jorinji Miso. In the kitchen, Jason’s wife Humiko Hozumi was busy experimenting with flours to fry some items. “I’m trying different flours, but the batter for kakiage does not become consistent,” she noted. Since gluten-free flours don’t become sticky, it’s difficult to fry vegetables as each vegetable has a different moisture content and condition.

Humiko continued to look for a wheat flour substitute for her health-conscious gluten-free customers, but she could not find any she was satisfied with. In November, she decided to use wheat flour. She was not sure how her customers were going to respond to it. However, their reaction was not bad. Since then, her principle is to abide by veganism, but she uses ingredients with gluten for certain dishes when it’s the best option for a better outcome.

The Portlanders say that Obon Shokudo offers dishes that are not available at other Japanese restaurants in the area. Their menu is actually filled with elaborate dishes. Their signature sprouted brown rice onigiri is served with fillings such as miso marinated tofu, ginger and pistachio miso, or yuzu and pumpkin seed miso. Unique flavors are added to home-style Japanese dishes.

Humiko started the vegan restaurant to offer food that is pleasing to the body and mind. It was not just about offering vegetarian food. She hopes that her customers lead a comfortable life eating food from her kitchen. In reflection of this, the restaurant offers a wide variety of succulent dishes such as “croquettes using soy pulp” and “tofu cutlets” that are comparable to meat dishes, which are popular among non-vegan customers. For customers concerned about the calories and nutritional value of fried foods, she thoroughly explains the benefits of vegetable protein and the cooking method that uses minimal oil, which lessens any negative impact on their health. They keep their prices reasonable while the portions are generous. Humiko said, “Organic food has become a luxury item, but we want to offer our dishes to as many people as possible, regardless of their income level.”

The three principles behind the “feel good” concept

The main concept of Obon Shokudo is to offer Japanese food that makes people feel good. The concept is reflected in how they source their ingredients as well as how they treat their customers from the moment they walk into the restaurant until they leave. Humiko stated the three principles that they practice. First, they try best to only buy seasonal food from the local farmers and stores in the vicinity. Second, they make sure to minimize food loss and waste. All kitchen staff need to go through Humiko’s check before discarding food scraps. “I ask them not to waste food. I tell my staff repeatedly that our restaurant is different from others and we minimize waste. Even so, I had many chefs who came to me with a heap of food scraps asking if they could throw them away. There was so much food that could still be eaten.” This is a reminder of how difficult it is to run a restaurant while reducing food waste. The third is to help build a healthy digestive cycle. “I want to create eating habits where even if you eat until you are full, your stomach doesn’t feel upset and you wake up the next day feeling hungry yet comfortable.” Humiko also added, “If there is a tasty product that has already been perfected over a long period, we would rather offer it at our restaurant than make it ourselves from scratch.” While they focus on making everything in-house, they also pay their respect to fine products made by others. For example, they carry amazake made by Jorinji Miso. Since they make their own miso and koji at Obon Shokudo, Humiko can make amazake. However, she raves about the amazake made by Jorinji Miso.

The other noteworthy aspect of their menu is the daily special. Humiko and Jason usually go to the mountains to forage mushrooms on their days off. The mushrooms they foraged are often incorporated into their daily special. Recently they made gyoza from mushrooms that had flavors similar to that of maitake mushroom. Last year, they had a good matsutake season and ended up offering rice cooked with matsutake and bamboo shoots, and sautéed matsutake.

Make a difference through small activities and co-create with local producers

The two originally moved from San Francisco, attracted by the diverse mix of food cultures and the city’s slogan “Keep Portland Weird,” a community that respects individuality.

Obon Shokudo first opened as a catering restaurant. Later, when a local vegan and gluten-free distributor suggested selling their food in farmers’ markets, they began selling kenchin-jiru, rice balls, croquettes, and other items in 2014. At the time, sushi and ramen were the only well-known Japanese food in Portland, and they gradually increased their customer base by offering tastings regularly. To make it easier for those unfamiliar with Japanese food to understand what the food was like, they could have described kenchin-jiru as “miso soup with lots of vegetables” and croquettes as “Japanese-style falafel.” However, they stuck to the original names of each dish and explained their origins and ingredients. Initially, it took a while for the customers to accept their dishes. It was important to stick to the original practice until the local residents become familiar with the food from other countries. Humiko said, “I wanted to make Japanese home cooking that made me feel at home. It’s food that my mother and grandmother in Saitama Prefecture used to make for me at home.” Reflecting on the past several years, Humiko smiled and said, “Jason has always been the one who inspires me and says, ‘It will work out.’ His energy and thoughtfulness are truly amazing.” The concept of family is also incorporated into the store’s name and logo. The restaurant’s name “Obon” is a homonym and refers to a period in which people honor the spirits of ancestors in Japan, as well as a lacquered wooden tray used for serving food. The black-and-white logo was inspired by the Hozumi family crest.

An important criterion in choosing a business partner for Humiko and Jason is not only the quality of the food but also whether or not the company shares the same values on food loss, environmental issues, and contribution to community revitalization. In addition to operating a restaurant, they recently launched a new brand “Obon kojo,” and sell kanzuri in stores, and miso and koji for retail and wholesale. The driving force behind their creativity is the desire to share food that makes people feel good. Humiko concluded, “The impact of our activities on society is still small, but we hope to reduce food loss and increase the number of people who are health-conscious in their eating habits.”

Translation Fumiko.M

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NOMU Sake Bar effortlessly blends in with a sophisticated landscape decorated with gentlemen in jackets with pocket squares, madams in cocktail hats, and classic cars that look like art. The bar doesn’t have a standoffish feel, though: once one steps inside, one will be greeted with the finest hospitality. Following the first volume on shizuku. I’d like to introduce NOMU Sake Bar, which opened in September 2021.

NOMU Sake Bar was already on everyone’s lips before its grand opening. In early September 2021, the bar collaborated with Berlin-based brand SUSUMU AI on the staff uniforms. They also held a successful preopening for the press and people in the industry, which I was invited to, and a dinner event for Japanese guests. Since their opening, they’ve been fully booked every day with many guests. People must make reservations in advance.

NOMU Sake Bar, where you can find exclusive, top-notch sake 

In a quiet residential area close to Kurfurstendamm (aka Kudamm), the district with high fashion stores, is NOMU Sake Bar. One of the key features is the sleek Japanese interior that fits the neighborhood’s atmosphere. The handmade oak furniture adds warmth and homeliness to the bar, and the numerous Japanese sake cups across the ceiling have an impactful presence.

The 30 types of sake are carefully selected from Japan’s prominent sake breweries, and most are available only in NOMU Sake Bar in Germany. They’re also changed seasonally. One of the appeals of the bar is that you can always enjoy the freshest of flavors. They also provide rare Japanese whiskeys, shochu, Japanese craft beers, and awamori.

What’s worth mentioning is the top-quality sake pairing, deemed as the sake version of a marriage. The dishes, which utilize seasonal ingredients from Germany and Japan, include edamame with truffle salt, torotaku, yellowtail teriyaki, hitsumabushi, and nigori sake affogato (this was the menu when the bar opened, which may have changed since then). The dishes also change along with the seasons. If you order the omakase course with sake pairing, you can enjoy your meal from appetizer to the main course while being taught which sake goes best with which dish. Even if you order an a la carte dish, you can still have a first-class experience by having the sake paired.

“The pandemic hit right when I moved to Berlin. The future was uncertain, and I wondered, ‘What can I do here?’ Then, I came up with the idea behind NOMU Sake Bar, centered on sake. I’ve been visiting Japan for about ten years. I fell in love with sake, of course, as well as the amazing food and traditional culture of Japan. I went to many Japanese restaurants in California, where I was born and raised, and I got the idea from thinking, ‘I wish Berlin had such places.’ I was lucky enough to find this location in West Berlin, so I got the courage to give it a shot. At NOMU Sake Bar, the most important thing is traditional Japanese cuisine and the spirit of hospitality.”

I felt like Sarah Stein, the owner of NOMU Sake Bar, has a deeper understanding and respect for the heart of traditional culture and hospitality in Japan, more so than Japanese people. Her sensibility and foresight from her years in fashion marketing are reflected in her attentive service and kind smile, which will certainly attract more fans. 

NOMU Sake Bar
Address: Ludwigkirchstraße 3, 10719 Berlin
Opening hours: 6 pm to 10 pm
Holidays: Monday and Tuesday
https://www.nomusakebar.de/

Photography Yuto Yamada
Translation Lena Grace Suda

The post Premier sake, shochu, and dishes: a taste of Japan in two Berlin bars—vol. II: NOMU Sake Bar appeared first on TOKION - Cutting edge culture and fashion information.

The bar’s ambiance is so welcoming that one can almost hear the Japanese greeting, “Irasshaimase.” While the bar looks small and cozy from the outside, one could sense the meticulousness and high taste level behind it. Of course, this isn’t Japan, but Berlin, Germany.

In the summer of 2020, two bars that incorporate traditional Japanese cuisine opened their doors. One of them is s h i z u k u., located in Kreuzkölln, the intersection of Neukölln and Kreuzberg in southeast Berlin. The bar offers rare sake and shochu that one can’t find anywhere else, intricate, elegant dishes that’ll surprise even the most refined Japanese palates, and a warm atmosphere that makes one forget about the precarious world outside.

Within Berlin’s dining culture, it’s been said that a place where cool people frequent is better than a place with a Michelin star. Recently, however, things have been heading in a more orthodox direction. Asian fusion restaurants with a wide array of influences might be declining. We dove into Berlin’s changing gastronomy and the bars that have been gaining attention right off the bat.

Once one leaves the hustle and bustle of the station square filled with different cultures, one should head for the vast 50-hectare Hasenheise Park. Popular restaurants line up on the other side of the street, and in one corner is an unassuming and elegant bar. When one goes through the entrance at the end of an open, wooden terrace scattered with fall leaves, one will find a calm ambiance with white and dark blue colors. There’s no sign out front. We spoke with Atsushi Shimizu, the owner of s h i z u k u., which is already garnering attention as a hideout in Berlin.

Wanting to open a bar where a customer can come alone and drink while reading a book; just like in Japan

–How did s h i z u k u. come about? 

Atsushi Shimizu: This used to be a Japanese tea cafe called Macha-Macha. I was a staff there, and when it was going to close down, the owner asked me if I wanted to try something out. I wanted to open my bar for a long time and already had the idea of opening a bar that served shochu and Japanese tea. So, I suggested that. I wanted to run a small, hideout-like bar, which is common in Japan, with just a countertop and serve high-quality drinks and some sensible dishes. The opportunity came to me just when I discussed this idea with people I knew. 

–Your bar is on the main street, but it’s tucked away and doesn’t have a sign. I agree that hideout is the appropriate description. This sort of style is quite rare in Berlin, yes?

Shimizu: The first concept I had was “A bar that one could easily find in Japan.” Many bars in Tokyo have a welcoming atmosphere where one can enter alone without hesitation. But in Berlin, or other foreign countries for that matter, they’re hard to find. That’s why I wanted to recreate that. I wanted to provide a space where people could come alone, read a book while drinking, and eat with no rush.

–You mean it’s not only Japanese people who want to drink slowly and leisurely by themselves without being bothered by anyone?

Shimizu: The culture of doing things alone “ohitorisama” isn’t only rooted in Japan, but also in Germany, Australia, Korea, and so on, regardless of race. I realized people do come by themselves and that there’s a demand for it. At first, I was still trying to figure out how to run a hideout, which isn’t widespread in Berlin, in the Kreuzkölln area. But as of late, I’ve come to understand the target demographic.

–From the moment I entered s h i z u k u., I felt comfortable and at ease. Was the interior design your idea? The overall ambiance has a contemporary Japanese feel, while the countertop chairs have a modern Western style.

Shimizu: Yes. I consulted with an interior designer to create the store design and concept. The countertop chairs have a mid-century Danish design. I also have a similar antique chair at home, but antique furniture from Scandinavia has thin and delicate legs, so not many are in good condition. These chairs are in good condition and are valuable.

–You know a lot about interior design. Did you specialize in it in school?

Shimizu: I just have a lot of curiosity. I’ve loved music since middle school and would go out of my way to order and collect zines and tapes from the U.S. Also, I’ve always been interested in art, food, and fashion. After studying French literature in university, I went to Esmod Japon in Kansai to study fashion. Although it closed down, there used to be an Esmod Berlin, and I came to Berlin as an exchange student.

–I didn’t know that there was an Esmod in Berlin! Berlin then must’ve been different from today. 

Shimizu： It was as you’d expect in the 90s; it was wild. The clubs and parties were fun, and although they’re from London, magazines like i-D and The Face were very stylish back then. Second-hand clothes, antiques, and the cost of living were cheaper than now.

–I’m jealous you got to experience Berlin in those days. It seems like the culture of music, fashion, and art from the 90s and such inform your sensibilities. How do you choose the alcohol you serve, which I’m sure has to do with choosing shochu and sake? You’ve been reimporting natural wines from Japan recently.

Shimizu: This is obvious, but the quality of the taste and whether the bottle design matches the bar’s image are vital factors in my selection. Sake is already well-known in Germany, and I think there’s still so much potential there. In this way, the shochu market may still be nascent. Shochu is made by fermenting raw ingredients with koji and is distilled only once. So you can enjoy the condensed taste of the ingredients in comparison to other alcohols. I also carry a rare, unfiltered shochu called Kiroku in my bar.

–Could you give some recommendations for each type of alcohol?

Shimizu: The Kiroku sweet potato shochu and the premium barley shochu, Hyakunen no Kodoku, are popular among the regulars. For sake, EAU DU DÉSIR 2020 from Kamoshibito Kuheiji and Zaku IMPRESSION H are popular. For natural wine, I recommend Arancia, 100% Delaware, from Fattoria AL FIORE, and Amphora Aranchione from Grape Republic, vinified in a terracotta pot. All of these will make you want to drink them again.

–You import natural wine from Japan, but do they have something that European wines don’t?

Shimizu: There are many prominent wineries in Japan. Of course, the taste quality is high, but I also like the bottle designs. Right now, I especially recommend orange wine.

Compared to natural wines from Europe, Japanese natural wines have gentler yeast and acidity, making them smoother and easier to drink. The grapes used in such wines are from Delaware, Steuben, Koshu, and such, which aren’t in Europe, so they have a flamboyant aroma and flavor that European wines don’t have. Some wines subtly accompany a meal or taste like a light cocktail; you can enjoy a wide array of wines depending on your mood and the occasion.

–I’m sure covid had played a part in this, but there was no prior information about the opening of s h i z u k u. The bar had opened before I knew it. I learned about it from my friends. I heard that you didn’t promote the bar loudly and that it mostly spread by word of mouth. Was this a deliberate choice?

Shimizu： Yes, it was. I don’t post pictures of the bar or the menu on Instagram, just product images. In my view, the best way to become known is through organic connections like word of mouth. It’s probably a worldwide trend in gastronomy, but there’s too much focus on making customers excited before they come to the restaurant by creating colorful dishes and ambiances. Sadly, the norm is to let them go home feeling the same as they did when they walked in.

Many bars are loud and aggressive. If I go to a bar in a 5-star hotel, I feel like I have to wear Gucci or Balenciaga and be luxurious. I want to prioritize this easy-going feeling, where people could casually come and go. The most valuable thing is to make people want to come back.

–When I saw the Instagram page for s h i z u k u., I felt like there was no information, but it did make me visualize the place. It’s like you convey the image of s h i z u k u. through a gallery.

Shimizu: This is especially true for sake, shochu, and wine: each has its backstory and history. I want customers who come to s h i z u k u. to feel that, and I’d be happy if they drank sake with an imaginative and curious mind.

The photos on s h i z u k u.’s Instagram page are taken by Shimizu himself. Inside the bar, haruka nakamura’s music softly played in the background; it made me emotional and want to say, “I’m home.” Next up is NOMU Sake Bar, in vol. II. 

s h i z u k u.
Address: Hasenheide 16, 10967 Berlin
Opening hours: 6:30 pm to 2:00 am
Holidays: Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday

Atsushi Shimizu
After studying French literature and fashion, Atsushi Shimizu entered the world of gastronomy in Japan. Afterward, he moved to Germany and interned at Demeter. After working in various types of restaurants, Shimizu opened s h i z u k u. in 2020. He strives to run a small store akin to a hideout for adults.

Photography: Hinata Ishizawa
Translation Lena Grace Suda

The post Premier sake, shochu, and dishes: a taste of Japan in two Berlin bars—vol. I: s h i z u k u. appeared first on TOKION - Cutting edge culture and fashion information.

In New York, where Japanese food is well-known, sake is usually paired exclusively with sushi and tempura. In the U.S., sake is often described as the white wine from Japan, but the production process is similar to that of beer. There are countless methods and types for the production process of sake, which leads to a wide variety of flavors. 

The world of sake is deep. There is so much to learn as you delve into it. Fine sake is pretty expensive in New York, which makes it harder to enjoy it casually. Due to differences in food culture, it’s not the best to pair dishes such as pizza, tacos, and pasta with strong flavors to delicate sake to bring out the best of both. Does sake only go well with Japanese food? At least I thought so until I discovered Kato Sake Works (KSW), a sake brewery that combines junmai sake with pizza, nigori sake with pretzels and mustard, and raw sake with lamb kebabs, all of which are dishes commonly eaten in the U.S. Should I say they offer the perfect hybrid culture of sake and popular American food? 

When you try the KSW brand sake, you will find that it is crisp on the palate, but has a robust personality in the aftertaste. It is delicately balanced, like the pairing of white wine and American food. Shinobu Kato, the owner and toji (brewer), grew up in Koenji, Tokyo. As a long-term resident of the U.S., he wanted to make sake at a place, which has the atmosphere of a yakitori bar under the railway tracks. It’s because he grew up along the Chuo-line, where Koenji is one of the stations with those types of yakitori bars. He now makes sake in Bushwick, Brooklyn, a tight-knit artistic community known for its vibrant graffiti walls. 

The local pizzerias, cafes and bars, fusion restaurants, and other establishments, which have no ties with Japanese food, have been intrigued with the offerings at KWS. They have made inquiries to get their sake for their restaurants.  Owners of neighborhood restaurants and residents visit KWS, saying that the store is unique. By word of mouth, they are expanding their customer base steadily. Fermented products require yeast including sake. Alcoholic fermentation is about repeating the process of nurturing and replicating the yeast. Similarly, KSW is attracting a diverse group of people, who love fermentation, and is growing its community steadily. 

I want to offer opportunities for people to discover the tastiness of sake. 

−−What prompted you to start Kato Sake Works and make sake? Were there any particular styles or flavors that you wanted to pursue? 

Shinobu Kato (Kato): My American friends were making beer and wine, so I thought I’d give it a try to make sake by myself. In the beginning, I just learned by imitating the process. When you live abroad for a while, you start making miso and natto (fermented soybeans). I think it was close to that. As I made my own sake, I learned about the beauty and flavor of handmade sake. It was a completely different experience from enjoying sake bought at a store. When I made my first batch of sake, I thought, “Wow, it’s not so bad.” My friends liked it, too. I really enjoyed the process, which led me to start KSW.  

−−Regarding the flavor of sake, is there a difference between the sake you like and the sake you sell?　

Kato: In terms of business, I figured that the sake I sell in the U.S. would be slightly different from the flavor I usually like. The preference for food, as well as the occasions for people to drink sake are different. We can’t assume that what is appreciated in the U.S. would be accepted the same way in Japan. As for Japanese sake, the balance of sweetness and sourness is important. In the U.S., wine is popular and the food tends to be oily and has strong flavors. I have a vague idea that it would be better to create sake that would suit those aspects. The sake that we make at KSW is a kind that I personally want to drink, but I also want the Americans, who never tasted sake before to enjoy it casually and discover the taste of sake. 

My favorite flavors are the full-bodied, junmai type with a strong aftertaste or sake made with the traditional Yamahai brewing method, which usually has a strong aroma. It’s a kind of sake that you can find at a small izakaya under the railway tracks along the Chuo line.  I also enjoyed a rare brand I drank recently, which had a strong acidity. Although I am aware of the preference of Americans, I naturally end up making sake that is to my liking.

Sake lovers congregate in Bushwick to make sake

−−What is the setup for people to drink sake casually? 

Kato: When I first came to New York, a friend invited me to a sake bar in Manhattan. Two American customers were having a good time looking at the extensive sake menu saying, “This is cool.” I believe they didn’t know how to choose sake, and I saw that they ordered the second cheapest sake. I guess that’s the best they could do. No matter how much the person serving the sake explains the difference between junmai and daiginjo, the sophisticated rice milling technology, or the quality of the ingredients, the customers are probably not so interested in those topics. In the U.S., people say that there has been a sake boom for the last 10 years. At the same time, they say that there is a lack of knowledge about sake among the customers. I believe that you can still enjoy drinking sake without having much knowledge.  Currently there are not many sake connoisseurs versus those who drink and eventually intimately understand beer and wine in the States.

I spend time with experts and connoisseurs and talk to them about where the rice and water come from. For anyone interested, I explain the history and production process of sake. We are sake otaku (sake geeks) in that way and are truly fastidious about the details. However, I feel that we can keep that aspect to ourselves. I don’t see it as something that I want to use as a sales pitch to the customers. For most people out there, I think it’s more important for them if the sake tastes good or not, rather than having the knowledge about it. I always try to keep that in mind. I believe that the personality of the brewer is naturally reflected in the sake he or she makes. As for me, it’s not about trying to create sake that meets a certain standard. It’s more of a collaborative venture, where sake lovers gather in Bushwick to make sake. 

There are breweries and tap bars near KSW, and most people just naturally get together at their favorite places to drink. I think that’s the right approach. Experience should come before education. It’s better to start with enjoying the atmosphere, the taste of sake, and realize that it’s quite delicious. 

−−Do you want KSW to become a place where people from the neighborhood can drop by casually? 

Kato: I think that our customers at KSW don’t know much about sake or haven’t yet discovered a brand that they find delicious. I chose “Junmai,” “Nigori,” and “Nama” as the name and taste of each sake to offer at KSW. The names are simple and are easy to remember. Do you remember using flashcards to memorize English words at school? I wanted to create flashcards for different kinds of sake. For example, people can drink the “Junmai” sake, while looking at the card. This is about learning and experiencing at the same time. When we present the card and the sake as a set, anyone who is interested will learn the difference in taste between the “Nigori” and the “Nama” and remember their names. Just like a student taking an exam, I would be happy if they could remember the names and tastes of at least two of the ten or so varieties they try. People, who can tell the difference between different kinds of sake, come to our place, too. I am sure these people know which restaurants serve good sake, and how to choose their favorite sake straightaway at a liquor store.

— When you founded KSW, you started with three types of sake: “Junmai,” “Nigori,” and “Nama”. Now, you added “Yuzushu” and “Mirin.” What kind of sake do you plan to make in the future?　

Kato: I would like to try all of the sake production methods that have been established to date. The production method is also connected to the naming process, and I would like to gradually increase the variety of sake at KSW. I would like to find ways to explain things as simple as possible so that customers can understand the different names and tastes. I want them to find their favorite type of sake. I would like to see more people choosing the sake they like when they go to a restaurant or bar. 

We have staff with a background in wine and beer. We also have staff with knowledge about fermentation. I think it will be interesting to combine their knowledge and experience with the production of sake. We are currently working on this idea.

It’s more important and satisfying to connect with the people in the local community and to receive their reactions personally than rapidly expanding far and wide.

−−Do you know any particular way of enjoying sake that is unique to your local customers?

KATO: I made “Mirin” simply because I wanted some otoso for the New Year.  Otoso is traditionally drunk during the New Year celebration, and the ingredients are sake, mirin, and spices.  I didn’t expect that it would sell so well. Recently, they started to sell mirin for drinking in Japan. However, we are not used to drinking mirin. And, I have not been able to explain to my customers successfully that it has the mouthfeel of sweet dessert wine. When you add spice to mirin and cook it for a while, the flavor turns bitter, and so some people drink it like bitters. Some people pour mirin over ice cream. The most popular sake is the “Junmai,” followed by the “Nigori.” But, I know customers who buy the “Mirin” frequently. 

−−Could you tell us about your plan to open a taproom? 

Kato: Lately, we don’t even know what’s going to happen in the next five or ten days. But we hope to open our next store by the end of this year.  By then, we plan to increase our sake production tenfold from the current level. If we achieve that, we will finally be on the same scale as our competitors. At the same time, we hope that we can sell out all of our products in NYC. People tell us that we can eventually sell our products on the West Coast. However, I believe that there are still many places in NYC to expand our market. It includes entities that already sell sake and others which have the potential. 

My top priority is for people in NYC who don’t know about sake to learn its appeal rather than trying to rapidly expand the market throughout the U.S. It is more important to connect with people in the immediate vicinity than trying to go far and wide. 

Shinobu Kato
Shinobu Kato is the owner and brewer of Kato Sake Works, a craft sake brewery in Brooklyn, NYC. He held management positions in global companies in the US, India, Canada, and Japan as an expert in IT and business process improvement with experience in project delivery and operations. His passion for sake led him to leave his job and move to NYC to start a sake brewery in 2016. When Kato is not brewing sake in Bushwick, Brooklyn, a neighborhood that reminds him of his hometown Koenji, Tokyo, he enjoys cooking and DIY projects. His favorite ways to relax are backpacking and taking road trips.
https://www.katosakeworks.com/
KWS is currently holding a crowdfunding campaign until mid-March to expand its business. Anyone can invest online starting from $100.
https://mainvest.com/b/kato-sake-works-brooklyn

Translation Fumiko.M

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In Japan, there is an increasing number of people practicing mindful eating – a meditative way of enjoying our food. Traditionally, expressing gratitude before eating is something that is embedded in Japanese culture as part of the daily ritual. Mindful Eating: A Guide to Re-establishing a Healthy and Joyful Relationship with Food by Jan Chozen Bays was published in 2009 and is regarded as the pioneering book, which introduced the concept of mindful eating to the readers in the U.S. Mindful eating is not just about eating, but is about being present with the food in front of you, concentrating on that moment, and reflecting on your inner self.

According to the book, there are nine hungers including visual hunger, ear hunger, mind hunger, and mindless hunger. One of them, touch hunger stimulates mouthfeel, which is about the texture of food such as creaminess and crispness. Nowadays, mouthfeel has become one of the most important criteria to evaluate wine and food in the U.S. Bays pointed out in the book that the Japanese have 400 words to describe the texture of food, while the Americans only have about 75 words. 

Dr. Sharon A. Suh is a Buddhist academic, who came across the teaching of mindful eating and became a mindfulness coach. She said mindful eating is about enjoying our lives, not by consuming material, but by coming back to ourselves. What is the core teaching of mindful eating and how can we apply it in our daily lives to make a difference? 

There are all these visible and invisible causes and conditions that have shaped our relationship to food. 

— I learned that you stumbled upon a book about mindful eating at a bookstore about ten years ago, which led you to become a trained mindful eating practitioner. What is it about this practice that appealed to you in a profound way and how did it change your life?

Sharon A. Suh: I came across the book Mindful Eating: A Guide to Re-establishing a Healthy and Joyful Relationship with Food in the bookstore. What appealed to me so much about it was that I learned that mindful eating was about recreating and reestablishing a joyful relationship to food. For women in particular, but increasingly so for men, food is such a charged topic. We’re taught to eat everything people give us and at the same time, we have a lot of cultural pressure to maintain a certain look or a certain body weight. There’s all this pressure on what we eat, and we don’t get to decide for ourselves what we want to eat. When I found this book, I was so fascinated because it was saying that there’s a way to relearn how to eat in a way that is personally fulfilling and enjoyable, and that if we slowed down while we were eating, we would also be able to appreciate all the food that we have. 

I grew up in New York, in the 1970s, in an immigrant household. My parents are Korean immigrants, and my mother was very strict about food. As I was growing up, I never knew if I was hungry or full, because my mother would always make those choices for me. And, when you are growing up as a young woman in an American culture, it is also hard because there’s a huge diet industry of about $72 billion a year, which tries to create a sense of authority over what you should or shouldn’t eat. Mindful eating was such a refreshing discovery because it was the exact opposite of that. Instead of listening to what somebody else is telling you what you should eat, you get to check in for yourself, and then bring all of your awareness and senses to your meal. I appreciated that because it was a message that I hadn’t heard before. It fundamentally changed my relationship to food and eating and ultimately my body.

— I heard that mindful eating has its roots in the 2,600-year-old Buddhist practice of mindfulness. Is it difficult to adopt mindfulness for people with different backgrounds?

Suh: Mindfulness is so popular in American culture, but I think people misunderstand it. People have an assumption that mindfulness is about not thinking about anything or it gets associated with a kind of identity in the wellness industry. If you’re mindful somehow, you’re more spiritual than other people. Mindfulness has been taken out of the Buddhist tradition, and marketed as a lifestyle. That’s why when people come across mindful eating, they think that it’s part of the wellness or diet industry. If you’re a mindful eater, they assume it’s a new diet. When I teach mindful eating, I always have to tell people that it has nothing to do with diet, exercise, or food. All food is medicine with the right dose. In American culture, there’s such an emphasis on good and bad food. From a mindful eating perspective, that’s totally false. What’s more important is our relationship to the food. 

The most helpful thing to learn from a Buddhist perspective is to understand the ways in which we’re conditioned. The Buddha taught us about our past conditioning; how we were raised and the conditions from our past. They continue to shape how we understand the world today. It’s important to notice the ways that we eat today are impacted and shaped by how we were raised as a child. For example, all the conditioning by my parents and their parents, and all the related trauma, also impacted my relationship to food. I know there are many generations, which grew up around food scarcity. My parents were affected by that during the Korean War. Afterwards, that trauma shaped how they understood food. There was so much pressure to eat everything on your plate in my family. And if you don’t, it’s a sign of disrespect, or it triggers the subconscious fear that’s inside them. Understanding the source of the problem is the most important thing. There are all these visible and invisible causes and conditions that have shaped our relationship to food. There’s something missing in American culture and popular cultures in the understanding of mindful eating. They may think that it’s about having to eat slowly. That’s mindful eating, but that’s a very limited understanding.

–Why do you think so many people are connected to mindful eating? 　

Suh: Everyone seems to have some difficult relationship to food. At the same time, two-thirds of American adults are suffering from disease including metabolic disease, and increasingly so among children. Mindful eating is appealing because people are beginning to realize that when you step away from judgment around food including what is good and bad for you, you learn how to trust your own intuitive wisdom about how you’re going to feed yourself. 

When we were young, our parents decided when we’re hungry or not. Children have an intuitive understanding of when they’re hungry, and when they’re full. It’s parents and caretakers that undermine that inner authority. As a parent, when my children were young, I used to tell them they needed to finish their vegetables or eat something because they were going to be hungry later. They would say that they weren’t hungry. Then you force them to eat and they stop trusting their internal wisdom about whether or not they should eat. Mindful eating is a way of saying, “I’m going to learn how to trust my gut or my internal instincts and ask myself rather than listen to an external authority, like a diet plan, or social media, about eating.” 

In my class, I always ask my clients, “What are we allowed to eat now?”  One year, eggs are fine. The next year, no longer. The diet industry is huge in the U.S. and the rules are always changing. No wonder why we suffer so much around what we’re supposed to eat. If we can step away from that, that makes us powerful. We can ask ourselves what we feel like eating as opposed to what we should eat. Our bodies know. If it’s a very hot day outside, and we’ve been outdoors and sweating, chances are our bodies are going to crave something salty, and our cells and bodies know what we need. But we tend to override our internal wisdom and look outside of ourselves. Once you start listening to all the external authority, you don’t give what your body is craving. Then, you end up having food restriction, which leads to binge eating or overeating. As soon as you put something on the “don’t eat list”, all you can do is think about that one thing that you can’t eat anymore. When you finally get it, you act like you’re going to eat it all now because you’re never going to be able to have it again. That kind of struggle is ongoing. Mindful eating allows you to put a pause there and turning inwards for your decisions. Most of the time we tend to eat on autopilot. We eat quickly when we’re consuming food, while consuming the TV, the radio, or the phone, and we’re never with our meal. 

Mindful eating gives us an opportunity to sit down, take a breath and appreciate our food. It’s a simple practice, which has profound results. It’s not about your diet or body. It’s about satisfaction, and being emotionally satisfied and calm and being able to generate happiness.

Check in with your stomach. Sometimes we mistake other things for hunger. 

— There is a difference between fullness (a volume measurement) and satisfaction (an emotional measurement). How could I eat in a sensible way? 

 Suh: We’re conditioned to eat at a certain time every day. First of all, eat when you’re hungry. There’s no virtue in not eating when you’re hungry. A lot of people struggle with food thinking it’s a good thing if you don’t eat even when you are hungry. That’s not a good thing. Check in with your stomach. Sometimes we mistake other things for hunger. If you’re thirsty, you might feel the same symptoms as physical hunger. If you’re anxious, or struggling with anxiety, you might have an empty feeling in your stomach. You might feel a little bit jittery, but you might not actually be hungry. When you eat although you are not hungry, the food doesn’t satisfy the hunger. When this happens, you have eaten all this food and start to feel guilty and bad. That’s samsara, a cycle of constant suffering and struggle. Feeling guilty and bad about yourself leads to a cycle of anxiety and binge eating. One of the things that we can do before we sit down to a meal is check in with ourselves. 

Jan Chozen Bays introduced me to one of the simplest practices.  When you get your food, check in quickly with your stomach and ask how full you are.  Are you a quarter, half, three quarters or really full? And then you ask yourself: how much would you be satisfied with? One or two cups? Make a decision and take the amount you want for yourself. When you sit down, bring all of your senses to your meal. Look at your food. Look at the color or the arrangement and smell your food. The more you bring your senses to your meal, the more you’re in the present, as opposed to worrying about what you should have done at work and worrying about what you need to do to get a promotion. That’s about the past and the future. As soon as you start bringing your senses, your eyes, your nose, and sound, as some foods make crunchy sounds, bring your awareness to the texture of your food, and see how it feels in your stomach. You are creating a moment of awareness and presence. And once you finish, halfway through your meal, you check in again. How much more would I like to eat? And it’s not that you restrict yourself but you give yourself permission to eat as much as you want. Then, you slow down because it takes about 20, 25 minutes to digest and begin to feel the hunger —the fullness cue in your body. Most of us eat meals in about five or ten minutes. 

–What sort of feedback have you received from your clients in your mindful eating workshops and training? 

Suh: A lot of people say they’re relieved especially in the beginning of the class. The first thing I always say is mindful eating is neither a diet nor an exercise plan. I tell my clients that I don’t know if they’re going to lose weight. I tell them that they will lose their guilt around food. What people appreciate is not having to feel guilty for eating a piece of cake.

From what I see in American culture, if we eat a food that we think we’re not supposed to eat, we eat it standing up and don’t put it on a plate. It’s almost as if we don’t want to admit that we have a desire for food. The feedback that I’ve gotten from my clients is that they’ve learned to normalize food, and that it’s fine to desire things like sugar. When our brains need sugar, it’s fine to eat chocolate. The point is to eat it in a way that you taste it and appreciate it. People have learned how to let go of some of the guilt around food. This is about giving permission to enjoy their food. 

— In mindful eating, food is considered medicine. If so, how do we know what kind of food to eat?  What is the right dose to consume food?

Suh: I always tell people, I’m not a doctor. My concern is people’s joyfulness around food. It allows people to slow down and eat whatever they want and learn how to trust themselves around food. Some people would say they can’t have sweets in the house because they won’t stop eating them. It takes time for people to learn how to be a lot more compassionate and kinder to themselves. It’s like meditation. If your mind wanders, you just come back and not get stuck in the wandering. From what I gather from my students, they all have diverse relationships with food. Through the different exercises that we do, they realize that a lot of their struggle with food has to do with forces outside of them. It’s not about willpower at all. Everyone talks about having the willpower to stick with a plan. It’s about conditioning. They learned to eat and judge food in a particular way, and it’s not their fault. Once they realize that it’s not their fault, some of that guilt just naturally dissolves. 

How we eat is an expression of how we live our lives. 

–What do you see as the challenges for future mindful eating?

Suh: I think the real challenge is just that it gets so tied up in the diet industry. People think that it’s a diet and it’s not. I think people might feel a little bit put off by or a little intimidated. They may think that if they’re a mindful eater, they’re supposed to look a certain way. If you look on social media, the yoga world, or the wellness world, it’s usually populated by thin white women and that’s not what it’s about. Because it has the term “eating” in it, that’s when people start to worry that it’s a diet, or that’s why people come to me. I always have to say that’s not what we do. I usually say, “I’m interested in you being able to develop a compassionate, joyful relationship to food that is healing. And if that’s something interesting for you and you want to try, let’s work together.” Mindful eating can be something that impacts the rest of our life outside of eating. How we eat is an expression of how we live our lives. Are you eating as if you can’t wait to get to the end, just rushing and rushing? Then, maybe you’re living your life like that, too. It’s not just about food. It’s about enjoying our lives and coming back to ourselves. Using food and a meal as a way of checking in with ourselves and unplugging from all the devices. Our lives are just consumed like we’re consuming food, but everything else that we’re consuming is consuming us, like the social media. I talk a lot about social media because it’s so prevalent in our world today, and everybody is on a screen. We’re constantly bringing images into our awareness and we don’t even notice how much it’s shaping us. Buddha was talking about sense impressions 2,600 years ago, which is about how we’re constantly bringing in imagery and ideas, and not being aware of it. We suffer because we’re not aware. Mindful eating is another way to develop the capacity to be present in this moment. It’s so hard for people to eat without having the TV or the phone, or you have to eat while you work. It robs us of the ability to be present even with the food on our plate.

Sharon A. Suh, PhD
Sharon A. Suh is a Certified Teacher of Mindful Eating-Conscious Living ™ through the UCSD Center for Mindfulness. She received her 200 RYT certification, Yoga 4 Trauma certificate, and has trained in Trauma-Informed Yoga for Survivors of Sexual Assault. She has a Ph.D. in Buddhist Studies from Harvard University and is a full professor of Buddhism at Seattle University. She is the author of Occupy This Body: A Buddhist Memoir (Sumeru Press, 2019), Silver Screen Buddha: Buddhism in Asian and Western Film (Bloomsbury Press, 2015), and Being Buddhist in a Christian World: Gender and Community in a Korean American Temple (University of Washington Press, 2004). She serves on the board of directors of The Center for Mindful Eating and is president of Sakyadhita International Association of Buddhist Women. www.mindfuleatingmethod.com

Translation Fumiko M

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–Please tell us about the process from “Khanompang” to the launch of “Buddha Bowl”.

Mariko Maeda (hereinafter Maeda): My career has always been close to the world of cooking. Even before launching Khanompang, I had worked in an Italian restaurant and had made and sold cakes and cookies. My engagement with bread was triggered suddenly by some book. The book was about people from various parts of Japan who were making bread in ways that suit their own forms of lives. They were making yeast from the surplus vegetable peels and rice, and their relaxed styles fitted well with my desire for shifting my life to the countryside. So I moved to Hayama to start making bread. It had been 13 years since I started “Khanompang” without even realizing it. Those years went by surprisingly fast. The state of yeast changes every day, and I was looking inside the oven while breads were being baked every single day without fail. I was struggling every day. Ten years later, I had an anniversary party and I baked the best bread ever for that occasion. That event made me think that I want to try something new and decide to come back to Tokyo.

Even though I was like an empty shell for a while, I got fired with enthusiasm for creative food again while working part-time at the restaurant “Musmus”. I became familiar with vegan foods when I lived in Hayama to the extent that I visited my favorite Thai vegan restaurant at least once every six months, no matter how busy I was. Drawing on the knowledge about vegan foods, I started vegan plate at the place I was renting. At that time, I happened to learn about the Buddha Bowl on Facebook, and add a little modification to the plate I originally made to create a Buddha bowl with colorful vegetables, grains, and fruits on one plate. I wasn’t vegan myself, but I simply liked vegetables. It was also fun to think about new things. I also like the term Buddha Bowl because I think it has a strong power within itself. I was quite sure that I would be able to be the pioneer of the Buddha Bowl in Japan! Then I published “Book of Buddha Bowl”. After publishing the book, the words vegan, plant-based, and buddha bowl became quite popular, which made me feel that I had been able to set a trend.

Enjoying the taste of Japan through traditional dishes and seasonal ingredients

–What do you think is the appeal of Japanese food culture after going through various milestones in your cooking life?

Maeda: For example, it’s quite sad to see a gradual loss of traditional dishes or Japanese unique food habits, like the osechi dishes. And I don’t want them to be lost. I cook osechi dishes every year. After all, Japanese ingredients agree best with bodies of Japanese people. When I was working in Khanompang or making Buddha bowls, I always thought about what I would serve based on what vegetables and other ingredients I had at the store on that day. Those moments were the time where I felt an adrenaline rush. Even at such times, I often used Japanese ingredients. Although I was not conscious of it, it may have been a natural criterion embedded in me, just because it’s my root. I started my life in Hayama because I wanted to make something that fits Japanese life with my own hands, and it was around that time that I started to make miso and pickled umeboshi. These are just ordinary things in everyday life rather than something special. I prepared a meal by grilling fishes, cooking brown rice, making miso soup with my own miso, and taking out nuka-zuke, salted rice bran pickles, from nuka-doko, the rice bran paste bed. After all I like that kind of dishes. I even prepared salted dried fishes and Ganmodoki, deep-fried tofu mixed with thinly sliced vegetables, by myself when I had a time. It was as delicious as a dream. With Japanese ingredients, you can celebrate with seasonal ingredients at the turn of the season, or you can even feel that your body is filled with pleasure when you eat. I think Japanese food is full of such charms.

Feeling the changes of the seasons and physical condition through cooking “Koji” “Nuka” “Ume”

–Please tell us the reason why you mentioned koji (rice malt), Nuka(bran), and Ume (plum) as recommended ingredients.

Maeda: From Thai restaurant and “Khanompan” to “Marideli” and “Musmus,” I had been busy working, striving to serve delicious foods. So I wasn’t really be able to care about what I eat. Now, I feel that I am finally able to pay enough attention to myself and live carefully to the full extent in my life. Enjoying the process of fermentation and having miso soup using miso made by myself, rice bran pickles, and pickled plums on the daily table are the most delightful for me now.

–These three ingredients are indispensable for Japanese food, but what do you feel about the fun of making them by hand?

Maeda: I’m sure the malted natto (natto refers to fermented soybeans) has a very high potential to boost immunity because it is a combination of malt and bacillus natto. On top of that, once natto is malted, it can be stored for longer periods, which is the great thing about preserved foods unique to Japanese food culture. I make pickled plums every year, and this year I made plum syrup and crispy small picked plums. The plum work during the annoying rainy season is exciting. Since we can dry them outside when it’s sunny, I wait for a sunny day during the long spell of the rainy days. I’m looking forward to being with season’s transition every year. I like the feeling of wabi-sabi unique to Japanese culture. If my mind is not relaxed, the nuka-doko will soon be ruined. Through nuka-doko, you can feel that you are making something that enables you to feel the state of your mind and to notice small changes in yourself.

Crushing sesame seeds in a earthware mortar, sticking to a little extra effort

–Please tell us why you chose the earthware mortar as the recommended item.

Maeda: The rice cooker is from Taiwan, the clay pot does not seems Japanese, and the pots are all bought in Thailand and India, and the rest are the products of STAUB, so I wondered if I had any Japanese product… When I looked around the kitchen, I found this mortar. This was a present from my husband. I like the noise when I use it, and it’s exciting to feel the good smell gradually coming out. I think it’s a great tool unique to Japanese food culture.

–What kind of food do you use this mortar for?

Maeda: In terms of ground sesame seeds, the freshly ground ones are extremely fragrant and delicious. When making spinach with ground sesame seeds, rather than putting boiled spinach in a bowl and adding ground sesame seeds in it, I prefer grinding sesame seeds in a mortar and adding boiled spinach and seasonings in it, mixing them evenly inside the mortar. I think that is more delicious.

The restaurant “Musmus” where I learned about the charm of Japanese ingredients and organic foods

–Why do you recommend “Musmus”?

Maeda: First of all, their dishes are really delicious. They use sun-dried rice, and when I was working, the guest could have free refill on rice for lunch. The taste of sun-dried rice is completely different from ordinary one. You can choose between brown rice and white rice, and you can also have side dishes. The name “Musmus” is derived from an act of steaming vegetables in a bamboo steamer. (In Japanese, the word “musxdr54rtyuiklu” refers to the verb “to steam”. )

–What kind of restaurant is it for you?

Maeda: This is the restaurant where I worked part-time for about a year after quitting “Khanompang”. I drew on the experiences in “Musmus” to study Japanese food. Since “Musmus” is the restaurant where only Japanese ingredients are used, they purchase Japanese organic ingredients from all over the country and they have a meticulous attention even to seasonings. So I was able to come across a basic form of really delicious Japanese cuisine. Because I worked at lunch time, the place was always crowded with office ladies and office workers working in Marunouchi. Besides, although they are serving mild Japanese food, there was a rigid hierarchy inside the kitchen. The foods are very detailed and carefully prepared. For example, in terms of hari-shoga which literally means the needle-like ginger, I was told to cut them thinner than a needle. However, I got a severe reprimand from colleague because the ones I cut were way too thick. It was such a great training for me where I could learned valuable things that I didn’t have: great technics, skills, recipes.

Mariko Maeda
She is a food artist who developed her cooking skills at various restaurants and opened the bakery “Khanompang” in Hayama, Kanagawa in 2000. She specializes in vegan cooking with plenty of vegetables, and is the leading figure who has populized the Buddha Bowl in Japan.

Text & Edit Mai Okuhara
Translation Shinichiro Sato(TOKION)

The post “Japan’s Brand Trivia” Vol.2 Japanese cuisine filled with healing and energy Food artist Mariko Maeda reconsiders the unique charm of it appeared first on TOKION - Cutting edge culture and fashion information.

The zine featured people from art and fashion communities, many of them discussing the relationship between music/art and natural wine. As natural wine gains popularity, what makes it so appealing to art and music lovers? I talked to Shinichi Takahashi about the countercultural aspect of natural wine.

Natural wine is a counterculture that defies wine culture’s prevailing system

Essentially, natural wine has no official definition. It’s commonly described as wine produced on a small scale by independent wineries that do not use antioxidants (sulfites) and use yeast native to the local ecosystem. Supposedly, the term itself was first coined in France in the 1980s.

“There’s basically no official definition of wine, and you don’t need any certification to call your wine natural. Sometimes, even wines that are made using concentrates——like a soft drink from a convenience store——are sold in supermarkets, with the display claiming that it’s natural wine.” (Takahashi)

Because there’s no official definition of natural wine, it’s necessary to understand the production process behind conventional wine. In the 1950s and 60s, around the time that agriculture became industrialized, wine also became industrialized for mass production and consumption. With the conventional method of making mass-produced wine, growers spray pesticides to deal with weeds, which kills microbes and necessitates the use of chemical fertilizers. As a result, yeast loses its potency, becoming difficult to use for fermentation. Antioxidants (sulfites) are then added to kill off the unwanted yeast, achieving a stable condition. Then, artificially cultivated yeast is added for fermentation, and various additives are incorporated. In comparison, natural wines only use delicious grapes and healthy bacteria collected from vineyards with natural, self-sustaining ecosystems. They’re often simple enough that they can just be fermented and left alone.
So, why is natural wine considered a counterculture?

“This might be obvious, but conventional wine is made for mass production and consumption. So I think natural wine — which is the opposite of conventional wine — has a countercultural side that defies the prevailing system of wine culture, including the values, the state of the market, the system, and the taste. Just like counterculture has an ideology, natural wine has an ideology too, and thus, the power to move people.” (Takahashi)

Takahashi was first inspired to open Human Nature in 2017. The story goes like this: After graduating high school, he went to New Zealand to study abroad, staying there for 7 or 8 years. Thanks to an Italian friend he met while abroad, he became completely hooked on natural wine.

“After returning from New Zealand, I went to Italy to visit my Italian friend every year. That made me want to live in Italy, so I decided to go to an Italian university from 2013 to 2014. It was a gastronomic science school that you could graduate from in just one year. At the time, I was also interning at a wine distributor, and the people at the company often took me to Italian wineries. That’s what made me realize that natural wine is a counterculture. From there, I decided to write my thesis on natural wine and counterculture.” (Takahashi)

What is counterculture, anyway? Takahashi continues:
“In the past, all kinds of countercultures have emerged, like hippies, punks, and mods. These movements were based on societal values that people assumed to be fact, but were actually values that allowed the powerful to control people as they liked. I think counterculture is a culture born from a rebellious spirit——from feeling angry about the world and wanting to change it.” (Takahashi)

If you look up the definition of counterculture, it’s sometimes described as synonymous with subculture. But unlike a subculture, which is a smaller culture that exists alongside the mainstream, a counterculture has the potential to defy trends and make waves. Like the birth of punk rock or hip hop, natural wine possesses a similar spirit within the wine world. Takahashi reveals that spirit to the world in the form of his thesis and zine.

Later, as Human Nature’s popularity grew, it went from being a small store to an online specialty store, and then to Nihonbashi Kabutocho in 2020 as a natural wine bar.

“Thanks to my Italian friend, I started drinking natural wine every day. At first, I was buying it online. But I didn’t have money, and it’s a bit too expensive to drink every day. So, I got a liquor license to buy it at vendor prices. At the time, I had no intention whatsoever of selling anything. I had a small wine cellar though, so sometimes friends would buy wine from there. Before I knew it, I had more and more friends buying wine from me, and my wine cellar got bigger and bigger in turn. (laughs) That was the origin of Human Nature.” (Takahashi)

Natural wine’s culture and ideas resonate with music and art fans

If you take a look inside the bar, you’ll see art on the walls, a lineup of original merchandise created with friends, and live music and DJ events that are held from time to time. In the zine “HERE TO STAY – NATURAL WINE AND COUNTER CULTURE,” the various writers assert that natural wine is like music and art. The zine’s design is reminiscent of punk culture, too.

“In the zine, James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem says, ‘I thought the music and wine I like are the same.’ He also draws a comparison between record and wine stores, as well as the way records and wine are distributed. Also, KABA, the designer of the apparel brand bal, said that, ‘Natural wine has an independent style. An ‘anti’ attitude that challenges existing structures. Its style is to enjoy drinking wine without being bound by the rules.’ As a side note, the zine’s design is just because I’ve liked punk and hardcore from when I was in high school. Plus, I wanted to make the most of the zine format.” (Takahashi)

These days, even aside from the zine, it’s common to hear conversations about natural wine in art and music circles.

“At its core, natural wine is simply easy to drink, and it tastes great. But taste varies from person to person. Even if people are drinking the same thing, they experience it differently. It’s the same with music. Just like people have their own music preferences, winegrowers also make wine according to their own tastes. That’s why I think people who like art, music, and culture can relate to natural wine. I feel like influential people are posting about natural wine on social media, which is drawing more attention to it. Also, natural and organic foods are getting more attention these days, so that might be a factor as well.” (Takahashi)

There’s another reason why culture lovers are interested in natural wine: the high degree of freedom in the label design compared to conventional wines. While perusing the shelves, people find themselves wanting to buy natural wine based on the label, in the same way they might buy records based on the cover.

“A lot of wines have really formal, chateau-style labels. Compared to that, one of natural wine’s distinguishing characteristics is that the labels are often free from tradition and formalities. When you buy a record based on the cover, you don’t know whether you’ll like the music until you try listening to it. In the same way, you don’t know if you’ll like a wine until you try drinking it. Because the labels aren’t bound by rules, you get a sense of the winery and winemaker’s culture and philosophy, and the feeling of, ‘Let’s appreciate this natural wine culture together.’ That’s interesting, isn’t it?” (Takahashi)

Finally, I asked Takahashi, who has drunk countless natural wines thus far, for his recommendations.

“I don’t really like to recommend a certain wine. If I recommend something, it’ll be the only wine that sells. The quantities of natural wine are limited in the first place, so if I do that, the people who really want to drink it won’t be able to buy it. The wines I sell in the store are all wines that I like, so it’s a safe bet to just buy them based on the label. There are a lot of fresh, juicy, and crisp wines——so they’re all delicious!” (Takahashi)
This seems like a fitting response from the free-spirited Takahashi.

Shin Takahashi
Shin Takahashi is the owner of Human Nature, a bar specializing in natural wines in Nihonbashi Kabutocho. He majored in Media Studies at Victoria University of Wellington in New Zealand. After working as a photographer, bartender, and video producer, he got his master’s degree at the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy while studying natural wines at a natural wine importer. Upon returning from Italy in 2017, he opened Human Nature, where he has been working since.

■Human Nature
Address: 9-5 Nihonbashi Kabutocho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo
Hours: Monday-Friday 15:00-20:00, Saturday 13:00-20:00, Sunday 13:00-18:00
Days off: None
TEL：03-6434-0535
https://humannature.jp
Instagram：@human_natureeeee

Photography Takaki Iwata
Transration Aya Apton

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Austrian film director and food activist David Gross was intrigued by the paradox of Japan’s food waste as well as its tradition of respecting food through “mottainai” – a custom, phrase and philosophy unique to Japan. In 2015 he directed Wastecooking, his first feature length documentary about food waste in five European countries. It was during this promo tour that he came up with the idea of a sequel based in Japan. We asked David about his thoughts on the current issue of food waste in Japan.

——How did you become a food activist as well as a film director?

David Gross：I started dumpster diving in 2012 in my hometown of Salzburg, Austria. It was curiosity that brought me to the dumpster behind a local supermarket. I discovered a lot of fresh, edible food inside that I took home, and invited friends and cooked and shared the food. So that’s how we found out that you can have a meal out of a dumpster and we soon started filming our activities. It all started with a bunch of friends in the neighbourhood. I never would have imagined that this activity would bring me to Japan!

——What kind of activities do you do as a food activist?

David：I don’t usually think of myself as a food activist but what I do is I rescue food that would otherwise go to waste and make something delicious out of it and share it with friends. Some food activists do social cooking activities like distributing food to the homeless or organise local food events. But I think the core of food activism is that you care about food as much as you care about human beings. That might be the difference between a chef and a food activist. There’s also a desire to raise awareness about the problems of the current system through such activities.

——So why did a filmmaker based in Europe decide to make a film about food waste and the concept of “mottainai” in Japan?

David：In 2017 I was invited to come to Japan for the first time by United People, the local distributor of Wastecooking. I met Kenji Sekine who would later become my film producer, and during the promotion tour I met Nikki, my interpreter. It was pure intuition – I simply had this vision of making a movie in Japan. Through many encounters I got to understand the uniquely Japanese concept of “mottainai” which stems from Buddhist philosophy, and is not only about not being wasteful but respecting all living things. It’s such a beautiful concept, yet at the same time, Japan currently has a industrial system that produces a lot of waste. As a food activist and filmmaker this paradox was very interesting to me.

——Did you find that Japan wastes more food than other countries?

David：If you just look at the statistics it’s more or less the same amount of waste as other economically developed countries. In Japan waste in general is not very obvious. You hardly even see any trash cans in the street. I was very impressed by how people take their trash home. But I soon understood that there is a lot of waste; it’s just a bit more hidden. I wanted to shine a light on what was being hidden in the darkness.

A turning point to reconsider our food traditions

——Japan is well known for its rich food culture, but at the same time quick-fix foods convenience stores and fast food have become very common. What do you think about Japan’s current food culture?

David：For me it was a big surprise that traditional recipes like katsuobushi, natto, fermented foods didn’t seem to be popular among the younger generation. I’m addicted to these natural Japanese cuisines. It’s a healthy and sustainable diet but at the same time these fast food chains are everywhere. But I think it’s a phenomenon you’ll find anywhere in the world, not just Japan. I hope that these crises we’re now facing, like the climate crisis and COVID-19, will be a turning point to going back to more traditional roots of our food culture and reevaluating our own lifestyles. I really do hope so.

——With the mainstreaming of convenience stores and fast foods, we are putting less and less time and effort on our food. My personal impression is that people overseas spend more time enjoying dinners.

David：That’s a very interesting question because I had always imagined that people in Japan enjoy their dinners together as a family. But the truth is we both have fast food restaurants. Almost anywhere in the world we are facing a lack of time to really enjoy sitting together. Even I myself will sometimes rush into a convenience store and eat a burger during filming or editing because I don’t have enough time to cook. 

Blaming the fast food industry isn’t the solution. If we really want to make meaningful change, we need to think about the way we work and how much time we give to food and human relationships. What is very important is to sit together and take time and really relax. I think the challenge is to have a more simple lifestyle so that in the end it will be a happier one. It’s a work in progress for me too.

——These days it’s less common to see our food in a whole, unprocessed state – especially meats. Do you think this lesser awareness of our foods once being living beings has something to do with lessening interest in food?  

David：When I travelled to countries in Africa, South America or Asia I saw whole animals in the market. They prepare and chop the animal in front of your eyes. It was very shocking when I saw it for the first time but of course this is totally true, we have lost that connection to where our food comes from, and that feeling of gratitude for it. I recently met a little girl in elementary school and she had no idea that the piece of meat on her plate came from a cow! That was an interesting moment. So yes, we do need to reconnect better and raise that awareness towards our food. 

——You touched upon food produce from Fukushima Prefecture in the film. Are people overseas still hesitant about eating food from Fukushima?

David：Yes, I think people are still hesitant, to be honest. I don’t think my friends or family in Austria would eat anything that’s labelled Produced in Fukushima. Some people are especially cautious about seafood, and some won’t eat anything from Japan. But there is also a lack of knowledge. Many people think Fukushima is the name of just one town, like Chernobyl. They have no idea that it is part of a huge prefecture of the same name. The lab we visited for Mottainai Kitchen gave us a deeper insight into the data and science. My personal lesson was that it is very easy to have a black/white or good/bad impression but it is important to listen to experts and read different articles. My recommendation is; make up your own mind and learn for yourself by doing your own research.

——What left the biggest impression on you during your filming journey through Japan?

David：If I had to pick out from the people we met, it would have to be Grandma Wakasugi and Earth Boy, the advocate for insect cuisine. If you watch the film you can see how they are  both connected to nature for their quest for food. One is an embodiment of old traditional knowledge and the other is full of new, innovative ideas. Both were fascinating and  felt very Japanese to me.

——What can people do if they want to take action for food waste after watching this film?

David：It’s always best to start with your own self. Start with your kitchen, your cooking pots and your fridge. Take a second look at expired food, maybe smell and taste it and try finding new ways of cooking. Invite your friends, exchange recipes and have a potluck party. If you want to do more the next step is to communicate the changes you made. Your friends will notice that you are cooking better. They might see you as a role model somehow and they become inspired and start making their own changes. The final step is to build a network with your local businesses and organise to spread the change. The more you cook the less you waste, and the more food you can rescue. I jumped into a trash can in Salzburg, Austria and somehow, through everything, came back out the other side in Japan! Taking action will change your life. So I encourage everyone to take that first step.

David Gross
Born in 1978 in Austria, David is a TV journalist, film maker, and food activist. After some time as a dumpster diver, he started his cross media project Wastecooking and travelled throughout Europe to document his food rescue plights. After a successful TV series, he created a feature length film of the same name which was later released in Japan. In 2020, the sequel Mottainai Kitchen was released.

Mottainai Kitchen is a documentary roadmovie spanning 1600km across Japan as David Gross rescues food from going to waste from convenience stores to family homes. The film shows various ways waste can turn into a delicious meal, and the many joyful encounters he finds on the way. Currently playing in select cinemas around Japan.  
https://www.mottainai-kitchen.net

Translation Nikki Tsukamoto Kininmonth

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Above all, it is the Mexican restaurant “Sanchez” that brings new food to Danish people. “Mexican food and Danish food are so different from one another in obvious ways. But on closer inspection, I did find a few common things – use of herbs, lots of pork and meat products… The pork chicharron and the Danish flæskesvær (types of pork crackling) are so similar,” the chef Rosio Sanchez said in culture trip interview. Born and raised in Chicago with American father and Mexican mother, she gained experience at a star restaurant in New York before moving to Denmark as a “Noma” pastry chef. In 2015, “Hija de Sanchez” was opened to spread authentic Mexican cuisine in Denmark. It was born as a stand that offers only three types of tacos in the corner of an empty meat store that used to be a meat market area, and immediately after being selected as “Europe’s 50 Best Street Food”. Two years late, she opened the restaurant called “Sanchez”.

The restaurant offers five types of course menus based on sophisticated creative Mexican cuisine. The menu changes depending on the season. At the beginning of August, when I visited, the course started with Sopa de Lima, which means lime soup made from vegetables and chicken stock. The waiter pours the soup over fried tortillas, cherry tomatoes, corn, and perilla—an appetizing starter with a touch of sourness and light scents of lime and herbs. The cod fillet wrapped in fried tortillas, and the cabbage, cottage cheese, and sauce-laden plates, had an excellent balance of acidity and sweetness, as well as the fresh taste of each ingredient.

At this point, I was strongly attracted to the subtle and profound side, which is different from the merit of the coarse, rich seasoning of the B-grade gourmet of Mexican cuisine. Ceviche, which was brought as the third plate and used mussel soup, has a delicious taste that spreads through the five organs. The course was finished with seaweed tacos and also pork tacos. In Danish restaurants, there are quite a few experiences in which it’s used a complex seasoning and unfamiliar ingredients to feel a bit “somehow” delicious. But in “Sanchez” I can enjoy the depth of the seasoning and the original taste of the ingredients I was able to feel “absolutely” delicious. The cozy space of the restaurant full of foliage plants and the friendly service of the waiters were the best services combined with the food.

In Japan, Danish food may be less familiar than Chinese or Italian food, but perhaps best known is Danish bread. There are many bakeries in the city, the bread culture will be significantly developed by those who are from “Noma”. For example, ”Heart Begeri” in partnership with “Noma”, and “Lille Bakery” opened by chefs who met at “Noma” series restaurant “108” have appeared one after another in the last two years, this time I had a chance to talk with the owner of “Juno the Bakery”.

The bakery was opened in 2017 in a residential area of Østerbro by Emil Glaser, a Swedish native who has been a chef at “Noma” for six years. Cardamom rolls are always popular in queues. The traditional Swedish pastry is crunchy on the outside, moist on the inside and the scent of fresh cardamom.

Emil moved to Copenhagen at the age of 18 and started to work a Noma directly after collage and cultivated cooking experience as a chef. After living in Paris for four years, he worked as a chef at the Swedish Embassy before returning to Denmark to open the bakery. At that time, he had the opportunity to help his Baker’s friend in Stockholm for a month. Last year, a cafe “At the Counter” was opened about a minute’s walk from the bakery and offers a snack menu such as sandwiches and granola. Both bakery and cafe have a simple design with no flashy decorations, where you can experience “Hygge” (a Danish word for a mood of coziness and comfortable conviviality with feelings of wellness and contentment.). I feel the sense of beauty that is common in Japanese sense of beauty Wabi-Sabi . “I’ve been to Japan many times, and I’ve also been inspired by Japanese food. You may not feel in the pastries, but it definitely influences my mind. However, the inspiration from Japan may have emerged from creating a space where the sliding doors and the sense of simplicity” Emil said.

Each restaurant and bakery in Copenhagen has its own individuality and unique presence. Still, I can feel the strength of the community that resonates with each other. “What I learned at “Noma” is the importance of “share” rather than competition,” he continues “each of us can grow by sharing our knowledge and experience as sources of inspiration. There is no jealousy because it is not the other person to compare but always the past oneself. Sharing would bring a great result which you could not achieved only by yourself.  My experience at “Noma” taught me what I have to do is to do my best,” he concluded.

The idea of ​​“share” is represented a Scandinavian identity. The state’s policy of increasing high taxes to enhance social welfare, education, and labor to reduce inequality is rooted in welfare-state capitalism. Formerly export-oriented economies, smaller Nordic countries were not able to rely on migrants as low cost labor as other European countries did during the Great Depression of 1929. The severe recession of the 1930s, the Scandinavian countries had no choice but to implement a policy of maintaining labor unions, laying the foundations for industry, and keeping their economies running. Perhaps, as a result, they have succeeded and have built an idea of ​​sharing and supporting each other instead of competing. Some pleasure can be found in the competition, and some pleasure can be found by sharing. I don’t think there is a definite answer, but I am definitely happy to have a delicious meal. Recalling the sweet scent of cardamom rolls, I would like to look forward to the food culture of Copenhagen, which will continue to develop independently.

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