Japan Eats News Today

Our guest is Masamitsu Ishibashi who is the president and CEO of Misaki Megumi Suisan based in Japan. Founded in 1986, the company has been focused on processing and sales of fresh seafood, in particular tuna. Tuna, or Maguro in Japanese, is one of the most popular fish among sushi lovers. Not only does the fish have a very special place in Japanese food culture, but on the other hand, sustainability is a major issue nowadays and seafood including maguro is one of the frequently discussed areas....

My guests are Tim Sullivan & John Puma, who are the hosts of the Sake Revolution podcast. The Sake Revolution podcast started in January 2020 and each episode is so informative and so much fun that I have never missed an episode of the show. 

Our guest is Jake Myrick who is the co-owner and toji, or brewmaster, of Sequoia Sake in San Francisco, which was founded in 2015. It is the first local artisanal sake brewery in the city.  In 2019, only 4 years after their first production of sake, the brewery received both the gold and silver awards for best sake produced outside of Japan at the  Tokyo Sake Competition. 

Our guest today is Marie Akizawa, the 6th generation rice merchant Yamadaya Honten in Tokyo, which was founded in 1905. 

Discovering Shochu with iichiko Our guest is Tetsuro Miyazaki, who is the General Manager at IICHIKO USA.  iichiko is one of the most well-known shochu brands in Japan and abroad.  The company was founded in 1958 and specializes in barley-based shochu products, which reflects the natural environment of Oita Prefecture in the south of Japan.   iichiko shochu’s nickname is ""Downtown Napoleon"", meaning that it has the quality of the first-class famous brandy Napoleon at an approachable pr...

Dassai And Beyond Our guest is Kazuhiro Sakurai, the 4th generation and CEO of Asahi Shuzo, which is the maker of Dassai sake.     You may have heard of Dassai, because you can find it in many bars and restaurants worldwide.  Also, Dassai has appeared at important events.  For example, when Barak Obama visited Japan in 2014, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gifted Dassai sake to the US president.   Dassai’s success did not happen overnight.  Kazuhiro and his father/the third generation Hiros...

Fourth Generation Sushi Chef Goes Global Our guest is Yoshi Tezuka, the 4th generation sushi chef at Matsunozushi in Tokyo, which was founded in 1910.  Yoshi is not just a great sushi chef, but also a global thinker.   Before he became a sushi chef, Yoshi spent years abroad as a professional ski guide as well as a backpacker and traveled to over 50 countries.  Now he cooks for a global audience worldwide on a whole variety of occasions, including the World Expo and the first lady luncheon ...