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Sendai Excursion – Pine trees, Kokeshi Dolls and Scrumptious Organic Vegetables

Posted by Michiyo Nakamoto

Traveling in Sendai and environs. If you look hard enough at the two craggy rocks, jutting out of the silvery waters of Matsushima Bay one atop the other, you just might be able to make out the “cigar,” supposedly perched in the mouth of Niou, the wrathful Deva King who guards the entrance to Buddhist temples. Known as Nioujima, or Niou Island, the oddly-shaped natural structure is supposed to look like a Niou statue smoking a cigar in the middle… Read more »

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Issey Miyake Retrospective

Posted by Michiyo Nakamoto

From the meticulously pleated, elegantly flowing pieces of his Pleats Please collection to the sculptural, recycled textiles of his “eco-fashion,” 132 5. ISSEY MIYAKE line, fashion designer, Issey Miyake, has continued to challenge the conventions of clothes-making and fashion textile design, in the process creating some of the most artistic and practical garments ever imagined. Widely recognized as one of the most creative designers of his time, Miyake, who first made his mark in New York and Paris, is being… Read more »

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Fruit-Flavored Soy Sauce

Posted by Michiyo Nakamoto

Shoyu, or soy sauce, is an essential seasoning in Japanese cuisine that has found a place on tables around the world together with popular Japanese dishes, ranging from sushi and tempura to teppanyaki. But even with the growing eclecticism of contemporary cooking, which has encouraged creative chefs from San Francisco to Stockholm to experiment with Japanese ingredients such as wasabi (Japanese horseradish) and yuzu (Japanese citron), it is still rare to find shoyu or shoyu-based seasonings in western-style meals. Toshihiko… Read more »