Trails to Tsukiji

Nori

28 min

This program showcases various Japanese food ingredients. Today's focus is the black paper-like seaweed called Nori which is a must for sushi. The Japanese love it and eat 10 billion sheets per year, making it a kind of Japanese soul food. Check out how they farm it in the sea and how it's enjoyed with many different ways of cooking.

Ume

28 min

We focus on ume, Japanese plum. Though it is a fruit, it cannot be eaten raw. For more than 1000 years, the people have been in favor of this unique ingredient by processing them such as liquor and jam. Above all, sour umeboshi, made by putting ume in salt, has been their all time favorite. Ume has strong association with seasonal Japanese traditions. People enjoy its scent and flowers in early spring and pick their fruits in rainy season. You will be fascinated by the world of ume.

Kombu

28 min

Our focus is kombu, dried seaweed, a necessity for the dashi soup stock which is a key component of washoku, traditional Japanese cuisine. Our reporter flies to Hokkaido, the far north of Japan, to report on kombu farming. He also learns how to make good dashi and how to cook healthy Okinawan cuisine rich with kombu. The program shows how kombu is deeply rooted in Japanese food culture.

Sweet Potato

28 min

This program is all about sweet potatoes. Sweet potatoes are used in a variety of delicious ways, from desserts to traditional Japanese dishes to salads, and as the basis for shochu liquor. Yakiimo, a baked whole sweet potato, is a very popular snack in Japan. As a result of repeated breed selection, there are about 90 types of sweet potatoes with outstanding sweetness in Japan. Farmers constantly pursue sweeter potatoes with improved textures. Enjoy the mysterious world of the sweet potato.

Ika

28 min

In this program, we focus on Ika, squid, eaten more in Japan than any other country in the world. Our intrepid reporter visits Hokkaido, in the north of Japan, to learn about midnight squid fishing, discovers an amazing way to deliver squid live, and eats various delicious squid dishes, including traditional Japanese ones as well as a unique fusion with Italian cooking. Join us!

Maguro

28 min

This program features tuna, the king of fish, traded in Japan's largest food market, Tsukiji, where various kinds of food from around the world are traded. Enjoy the exciting tuna auction where a fish can cost over 100,000 dollars and learn about the world's first complete tuna farm raising site. From unique ways of cooking to state-of-the-art research to protect tuna, a precious resource, learn just what makes tuna so great.

Episode 10

Episode 11

Episode 12