I was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan, where l raised two children. I’m a licensed chef. After culinary school, I worked as an instructor at a cooking school. I learned a lot during this time. Cooking at home for my family further improved my cooking skills. I’m friendly, talkative and a positive thinker. I enjoy eating, cooking, and I’m also very interested in the food culture of Japan and other food cultures from around the world. When I visited foreign countries, I always found that visiting food markets was more interesting than visiting tourist attractions. Unfortunately, I haven’t traveled anywhere for quite a while. Now I prefer cooking at home over traveling. Lately, Tokyo is becoming more internationalized, so it gives me the opportunity to cook with people from other countries, both residents and tourists. These are precious experiences for me. I always feel as if I’m traveling abroad, when my guests share their culture, tradition, and experiences with me, as we cook together.
I’ve loved watching cooking shows since I was a child, especially a Canadian cooking show called, “The Galloping Gourmet” was my favorite! The chef in the show Graham Kerr, and his wife traveled around the world and introduced the dishes which they tested in each country. Although the cooking show was broadcast in Japan much later than in Canada, Japanese cooking shows were still super boring at that time. Japanese chefs were just standing in front of a camera and showing us how to cook something with a serious face. On the other hand, Graham Kerr was always moving around in the kitchen, drinking wine, always joking, and making audiences laugh while cooking mouth-watering dishes. That was very fresh to me, and I thought cooking should be fun like that! I also like the last part of each episode. Graham grabbed the hand of a lucky person from the audience and took him/her to the table to test his dish. They looked like close friends who were enjoying their dinner. Come to think of it, that cooking show might’ve triggered my love of cooking. I love seeing people smiling while eating, as well!
When I was a child, I just wondered what the food tasted like while I watched foreign cooking shows. Nowadays, there are many kinds of restaurants in Tokyo. I’m able to eat most anything. However, most of the restaurants serve their dishes adjusted to Japanese taste. I’m more interested in the authentic taste which people regularly eat in the local areas. Now, I can get almost every ingredient! People from many countries share their recipes on the internet. So I’m now able to make many cuisines from different countries. I really appreciate it! Since I am Japanese, I feel like I’m responsible for sharing Japanese recipes and food culture. I would be extremely happy if I could make you smile with my food!
Thank you for reading! I hope to see you again soon!
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