Japan Eats!

4.8 (65)
FOOD
UPDATED BIWEEKLY

What is Japanese food? Sushi, or ramen, or kaiseki? What about Izakaya? Akiko Katayama, a Japanese native, New York-based food writer and director of the New York Japanese Culinary Academy, tells you all about real Japanese food and food culture. With guests ranging from sake producers with generations of experience to American chefs pushing the envelope of Japanese gastronomy, Japanese cuisine is demystified here!

1 DAY AGO

What Is Anko: The Key Ingredient of Japanese Sweets

Akiko chats with Ririko Tatsumi, found of Annn about her Traditional Japanese key ingredient: a bean paste called An!

28 min
NOV 13

Tips For Pairing Sake And Non-Japanese Food

Japan Eats!

47 min
NOV 4

Yama Seafood: Forward-minded Authentic Japanese Seafood Purveyor In America

Our guest is Nobu Yamanashi who is the president of Yama Seafood based in New Jersey.

47 min
OCT 22

A Delicate California Wine Made To Be Paired with Japanese Food

Akiko Chats with Xander Soren who is the founder of Xander Soren Wines

56 min
OCT 17

Bringing Japanese Premium Ingredients To Non-Japanese Chefs In The U.K.

Akiko talks with CEO & Founder of SushiSushi, based in Sheffield UK

53 min
OCT 7

Former Chez Panisse Chef Inspires (And Is Inspired by) Food Communities in Japan

Our guest is Jerome Waag who is the former chef at the legendary farm-to-table restaurant Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California. Jerome moved to Tokyo in 2016 to open his own restaurant Blind Donkey. The restaurant has been popular and successful and in March 2024, Jerome has opened another place called CIMI Restorant with a strong focus on sustainability. He has been also involved in an inspiring project the Food Hub Project in a small town called Kamiyama in Shikoku Island, which aims to revitalize the local community. In this episode, we will discuss how Jerome opened his own restaurant in Japan, his unique experience of running a successful restaurant in Tokyo, his new restaurant CIMI restorant and its vision for sustainable food, his role in revitalizing the rural town Kamiyama, and much, much more!!!

1h 2m
OCT 1

Japanese Wine Is Getting Exciting!

Our guest is Shiho Tanaka who is the head sommelier at Tsukimi, the Michelin-starred kaiseki restaurant in the East Village, Manhattan. The restaurant offers great selections of sake and wine to pair with chef Takanori Akiyama’s original kaiseki-style dishes. Recently, Japanese wines were added to the list and Shiho is one of the most knowledgeable sommeliers about Japanese wines in the U.S. You may not have heard of Japanese wine, but in the last decade or so, it started to appear in the global market and the world's biggest wine competitions, such as the IWSC International Wine & Spirit Competition, the Decanter World Wine Awards and the International Wine Challenge, honor Japanese wines with multiple Gold, Silver and Bronze medals. In this episode, we will discuss the challenging history of Japanese wine, why the Japanese wine industry is developing so fast in recent years, the unique grape varieties that make Japanese wine special, how to pair Japanese wine with Japanese food as well as non-Japanese food and much, much more!!!

54 min
SEP 24

Trained By Masters From Age 15: A Japanese Chef Shares the Tradition on the Global Stage

Our guest is Makoto Okuwa, who is the chef/partner of multiple, highly popular Japanese restaurants in the U.S. and other major cities in the world, including Makoto at Bal Harbour in Miami, Love Makoto in Washington D.C., and Makoto Vail in Colorado. Makoto’s success did not come easily. He started cooking at the age of 15 in Japan, training under master chefs for a decade and moved to Washington D.C. in 2001. Under Iron Chef Masaharu Morimoto, his new life in America was another hardworking process of learning a foreign language and culture, how to read American diners’ minds, not to mention honing his culinary skills. In this episode, we will discuss how Makoto got into cooking at such a young age, why he decided to challenge himself in America, what he learned from his mentor/master chefs, the reasons behind his success on the global stage, and much, much more!!!

55 min

See All (349)

4.8

out of 5

65 Ratings

So wonderful to learn about all the Japanese foods I love and more!

07/10/2023

OliviaLevine

From the moment I started listening, I found myself learning about Japanese foods and places I love - like the original Ramen Burger from Smorgasburg, Tsukemen, Shalom Japan - and so much more. This is both so relevant and informative!
Lots of Learning!!!

02/08/2022

satoru.tsuda87

Even you are Japanese, why don’t you listen this program for your understanding to foods and ingredients correctly?
Terrific Show!

08/04/2021

Sake Guy

Akiko is a first class interviewer, has great guests on but she’s always able to draw the best and most interesting things out of them.
One of my favorite shows...

03/03/2020

TeamWenceslao

I’m a big fan of this show. Akiko brings the best and most interesting guests regarding Japanese cuisine and culture. I’m looking forward to every episode.

What is Japanese food? Sushi, or ramen, or kaiseki? What about Izakaya? Akiko Katayama, a Japanese native, New York-based food writer and director of the New York Japanese Culinary Academy, tells you all about real Japanese food and food culture. With guests ranging from sake producers with generations of experience to American chefs pushing the envelope of Japanese gastronomy, Japanese cuisine is demystified here!