Nikkei Chronicles #6—Itadakimasu 2! Another Taste of Nikkei Culture
How does the food you eat express your identity? How does food help to connect your community and bring people together? What kinds of recipes have been passed down from generation to generation in your family? Itadakimasu 2! Another Taste of Nikkei Culture revisited the role of food in Nikkei culture.
For this series, we asked our Nima-kai community to vote for their favorite stories and an editorial committee to pick their favorites. In total, four favorite stories were selected.
Here are the selected favorite stories.
Editorial Committee’s Selections:
- ENGLISH:
Matsutake Sukiyaki
By Susan Yamamura
- JAPANESE:
Taking Pride in Spreading Yakisoba From Suzano to the Rest of Brazil – the Tie-up of a Noodle-making Facility and Bunkyo
By Kohei Ohsawa
- SPANISH:
Hard times for Mother, good memories for me
By Milagros Tsukayama Shinzato
- PORTUGUESE:
A Precious … and Delicious Legacy
By Katsuo Higuchi
Nima-kai selection:
- 44 stars:
It All Began at Mrs. Miyoko's Boarding House
By Iraci Megumi Nagoshi
Stories from this series
It All Began at Mrs. Miyoko's Boarding House
Sept. 27, 2017 • Iraci Megumi Nagoshi
Dona Miyoko is my mother, who is currently 93 years old. She was only 29 when my father passed away, leaving her with four small children to raise. At that time, my grandmother encouraged her to open a boarding house, offering bed and board to youths from Japanese families who lived in the interior of São Paulo State and came to the capital to study. She started out by receiving eight boarders who had come to attend college, providing breakfast, …
Calpis, Torikawa, and Yūrei: An Osaka Summer
Sept. 25, 2017 • Mari L'Esperance
Memories that inextricably tie together food, family, and childhood can be some of our most lasting and profound. Such memories and related sensations can surface from the depths at the slightest provocation, and via seemingly random sources. Which brings me to the notion that everything truly is connected, and perhaps increasingly so as we age, memories steep and deepen, and the long ago and faraway take on an otherworldly quality. One of my favorite films is Whisper of the Heart …
A Precious … and Delicious Legacy
Sept. 20, 2017 • Katsuo Higuchi
The life of Ms. Aiko, a pleasant and hyperactive obatiam who, to this day, at age 96, provides a lesson in vigor and joy of living, would serve very well as inspiration for a book. She was even the subject of a brief article in this newspaper last July, in addition to having been interviewed by the Japanese TV station NHK and the French newspaper Le Monde. Besides, she has been mentioned in several publications. Having lived in Brazil for …
It happened at the Misuzu Restaurant. Honto Ni!*
Sept. 15, 2017 • Chico Pascoal
[The city of São Paulo’s] Rua Américo de Campos is a short and narrow roadway that begins at Largo da Pólvora, crosses Rua Galvão Bueno, and, at the corner of Rua da Glória, comes to an end at Praça Almeida Júnior. I was able to follow its trajectory with my eyes closed. Well, at least back then I was. At number ... 1154? That’s where you could find Misuzu, a sui generis Japanese restaurant. This restaurant differed from other restaurants …
Hard Times for Mother, Good Memories for Me
Aug. 24, 2017 • Milagros Tsukayama Shinzato
“Eat it all, mottainai to throw it away.” Although two years have passed, I still miss my mother. “If you run out of ajinomoto, use shoyu (soy sauce) with sugar.” I still remember so many pieces of advice she gave me! “If you cook with tanchi, the food tastes bad.” My mom was always right. Food is prepared with love, without tanchi (being upset). My mother wasn't openly affectionate and neither was my grandmother (oba). Both were widowed with small …
Restaurant Memory
Aug. 18, 2017 • Edna Horiuchi
My favorite restaurant in Little Tokyo is called Suehiro’s. It is a small Japanese restaurant on First Street between San Pedro and Alameda. It used to resemble a little mom and pop restaurant, but was recently remodeled to keep up with the rapidly gentrifying neighborhood. It is now more elegant and even has a wine bar, but it still serves the same comfortable, delicious food. I like the chicken sukiyaki with its hearty broth and steaming noodles. I always search …