Umami Mart Gift Guide

Celebrate Japanify All Month with Us!

Umami Mart Staff on



Japanify All Day is Umami Mart’s recently released Japanese recipe cookbook zine. It’s our very first publication, so we’re pretty damn excited about it and we’ve decided to devote the month of February to celebrate its release. During Japanify month, we’re throwing a Japanify Golden Ticket Contest and two parties, so that you can Japanify all month with us!

Before we go into details about Japanify Month, we wanted to give you a little background about Japanify, itself. Japanify is a monthly blog column on Umami Mart’s website of Japanese recipes, developed and written by Umami Mart co-founder Yoko Kumano. Yoko started writing Japanify in 2010. Upon moving back to the Bay Area after five years of living in Tokyo, she wanted to document her vibrant food memories from Japan and to reproduce these dishes using locally-found ingredients to capture the tastes she experienced in Tokyo.

Late last year, we published Japanify All Day, a cookbook zine of 21 Japanese dishes, snacks, and drinks. Fifteen of the featured recipes are updated versions of the most popular Japanify posts from the blog, and six are brand new recipes, developed and written exclusively for the zine. Not only are these Yoko’s favorite things to cook and eat, but they’re simple, healthy, and delicious recipes that we think you’ll return to time after time. The zine includes Japanify Pantry Essentials, a special section explaining common Japanese ingredients you’ll need to make these recipes. The cookbook is divided into sections, by mealtimes: Morning, Noon, Evening, and Late Night.

Now that you know the Japanify story, here are the details for our upcoming Japanify Month contest and events:

Japanify Golden Ticket Contest


Taking a cue from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, we’re hosting our own golden ticket contest. From February 9-25, five golden tickets will be placed within 200 copies of Japanify All Day. The five random zines with golden tickets will be sold in the shop and online. Each golden ticket will be marked with a special prize for its winner.

Japanify Golden Ticket prizes include:

Winners must post a photo of their winning ticket on Instagram tagging @umamimart and including the hashtag #japanify. Once we verify the ticket, prizes can be redeemed in-person at Umami Mart (815 Broadway, Oakland) or by emailing shop@umamimart.com with preferred shipping address for shipment. Sorry, contest is open to U.S. residents only.

Japanify Zine Party at The Kebabery


The Japanify celebration continues on Thursday, February 23, from 6–9 p.m., when we’re throwing a ticketed zine release party at The Kebabery, the highly-anticipated new North Oakland restaurant from Camino’s Russell Moore and Allison Hopelain. Japanify Zine Party at The Kebabery will include three drink tickets and a plate of kebabs plus sides. Sakes served at Japanify Zine Party at The Kebabery are generously provided by Ichinokura Brewery in Miyagi Prefecture. Seats are limited to 50, so we encourage buying tickets early before they sell out. Extra incentive to join us at The Kebabery on February 23rd: One copy of Japanify All Day available for purchase at this event is guaranteed to contain a golden ticket!

Japanify All Day Party at Umami Mart


Finally, we wanted to host a Japanify event, where all our friends and customers could come. On Saturday, February 25, we invite everyone to join us at Japanify All Day Party at Umami Mart, a celebration from 12-4 p.m. at our shop at 815 Broadway in Old Oakland. The first 50 customers who make a $5 minimum purchasewill get a free copy of the zine. The party will also feature J-Shack food truck, samples of Yoko's Natto Toast (featured in Japanify All Day) using local Megumi Natto from Sebastapol, a limited-edition run of Japanify themed pins, and two copies of the zine that will be available at the shop are guaranteed to contain golden tickets.