Umami Mart Registry
Event Recap

Event Recap: Tohoku Springs Back!

I'm happy to report that we had a successful fundraising event for Tohoku last month. This was our first collaboration with UC Berkeley's Center for Japanese Studies, and we'd all agree that it was awesome. Despite the massive rain that...

Tsuchi-yu Onsen Town in Fukushima

Japan is a country full of people who work hard and play hard. Many put in 60+ hours into the work week, not including the after hours drinking they are forced to join with their colleagues. But I'm happy to report that they rest hard too....

An Afternoon in Fukushima City

If you try Googling "Fukushima" you'll get pages and pages of links with words like, "tragedy" "disaster" and "fear" in the title. This is simply fact. On March 11, 2011, Fukushima prefecture was home to an earthquake, then tsunami so devastating that it caused a massive...

Kinpou Sake from Fukushima

By Shizuka Wakashita One day I had to run errands near a local wine shop and it suddenly occurred to me that maybe this shop has some jizake (sake produced by smaller breweries, or as with beer, "micro breweries"). If they are passionate about wines they must...

Remembrance

Spring is just around the corner, and plum blossoms are bursting all over Japan, California, and beyond. A year after the devastation of the Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami, Japan still stands, its spirit strong, with people going about its business just like the rest of us....

Upcoming Event

Umamimart @ Pecha Kucha 1/24 (SF)

Yoko and I have been invited to give a presentation at the world-renowned Pecha Kucha forum next Tuesday 1/24 in San Francisco. The theme is "chaos", and we will be speaking about our experiences in Japan last year in regards to food and radiation. In...

Radiation + Japan: Drinking Water

After spending three weeks in Japan, the subject of radiation in the water remains a mystery to me. People young and old all had differing opinions about it, and tap water vs. bottled water was a hot topic. When I first arrived in Tokyo, I didn't...

Radiation + Japan: Interview with Tadaaki Hachisu, Egg Farmer (Saitama)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-tTX5ktHFc *This is a part of an ongoing exclusive series on Umamimart, Radiation + Japan. Please check out these other posts and videos for more: Testing of Food in Japan, By Yoko Kumano Interview with Washio, Bar Owner (Tokyo), By Yoko Kumano

Radiation + Japan: Testing of Food in Japan (Video)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wWPEHuTbYo&feature=channel_video_title

Radiation + Japan: Interview with Washio, Bar Owner (Tokyo)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEYg8KURILk&feature=channel_video_title Washio is one of my favorite nomiyas (watering hole) in western Tokyo. I spent an afternoon with fisherman, enka singer, bar owner extraordinairre Taro Washio and captured it all on video. For more enka pleasure, please watch this amazing music video by superstar Jero.

Radiation + Japan: Testing Report and Thoughts

By Howie Correa Within half a day of arrival from Ireland, I was excited to be heading out of endless Tokyo to visit a radiation testing facility at Natural Harmony, a produce distribution site in Chiba. It was a trip that seemed to be...

The Gift of Food for Japan Benefit (LA)

All Photos by Yoko Kumano. About a week after our initial GIFT OF FOOD fundraiser in San Francisco, Yoko and I were approached to help organize a similar event down in LA, to benefit the victims of the 2011 Sendai Earthquake and Tsunami. Could...

THE GIFT OF FOOD (Video)

Our good friend and talented videographer Joe Stillwater (of Bright Spectrum) joined us on April 5th for our GIFT OF FOOD benefit in San Francisco. We raised over...

Last Night to Drink for Japan at Camino (OAK)

Are ya'll sick of hearing about fundraisers for Japan yet? Well, get over it--Japan needs us right now and we absolutely must do what we can to support it. You don't hear me get all up on my soapbox very often, but for this, Umamimart...