![]() As a child, the main character, Yamate Eisuke, wanted to follow in the footsteps of his mother, a French chef with her own restaurant. Start with a drama where the title fits this theme perfectly: Hungry! (Hanguri!). Yes, the story of "becoming a chef" seems to come up so often that I'm giving it its own category. Let's start by looking at a particular sub-genre of the food genre in Japanese television shows. Japanese dramas reflect an obsession with the quality of food that isn't seen on American TV – reflecting the fact that it's also not, I'm sad to say, part of American culture. ![]() The focus on culinary detail in Tampopo is far from unique. We see her slaving over variations of broth and getting the advice of experts who make comments on her noodles like "They have sincerity, but lack substance." Compare this to the most famous soup-maker on American TV – the character on Seinfeld who's famous for yelling at people, not for obsessing about the details of his cooking. You may have seen the Japanese movie Tampopo, where (in between other odd unrelated food-centric vignettes) the plot follows a woman who owns a ramen shop and is working to come up with the perfect recipe. Take two tales that involve a soup-maker. Numbers aren't the most important difference, though, because comparing those few shows to Japanese food drama is like comparing apples and oranges, or sushi and a Maine lobster roll. Contrast this handful of shows with the fact that on a fansub site like, there are enough shows with food that you can actually search for it as a separate genre, and that isn't all of them. There was one old show, Alice, about a waitress in a diner, and historical shows like Upstairs, Downstairs and Downton Abbey may have a shot of the staff working on dinner while they're talking about something else. Sure, in the US we have shows where the characters gather to eat in a certain restaurant or bar. In these series, chefs are main characters, average people are obsessed with a certain dish, and even the plot may turn on a particular detail of a special recipe or ingredient. And for better or worse, there's been cross-fertilization: the US now owns the TV cooking competition, a genre we borrowed from Japan after the successful importing of Iron Chef (a show that I loved, but that I think now has a lot to answer for).īut in Japan there are also many series where cooking and food are a central element of fiction. Japan has this type of show too, so in both countries we can watch how-tos that teach us to cook elaborate dishes from scratch, whether we set foot in the kitchen ourselves or not. Comparing American and Japanese TV, one subject where there's a big cultural difference is in shows about food.Ĭooking on American TV is basically always nonfiction. on Sanin Expressway via Yonago Expressway from Chugoku Expressway ) or 2 hours and a half from Okayama to Yasugi ( Head toward Yasugi I.C.TV reflects the obsessions of a culture, so there are interesting differences in the TV shows of different countries. ![]() 3 hours and a half from Osaka to Yasugi ( Head toward Yasugi I.C. 20 km from Matsue and 60 km from Izumo Shrine.Ĥ78-1, Furukawa-cho, Yasugi city, Shimane 692-0064, Japanįrom Osaka 3 hours and a half by public transportation / By airplane: 45 min drive from Yonago Airport, 50 min drive from Izumo Airport ( Flight time: 75 min from Tokyo to Yonago (ANA), 80 min from Tokyo to Izumo (JAS), 70 min from Nagoya to Yonago (NAL), 75 min from Nagoya to Izumo (JAC), 65 min from Osaka to Izumo (JAC), 70 min from Fukuoka to Yonago (NAL), 75 min from Fukuoka to Izumo (JAC) ) / From JR train station: 20 min drive from Yonago station, 15 min drive from Yasugi station ( 120 min ride on limited express train ''Super Yakumo'' from Okayama to Yonago, 135 min ride on limited express train ''Yakumo'' from Okayama to Yonago, 145 min ride on limited express train ''Yakumo'' from Okayama to Yasugi ) / By Car: 10 min drive from Yasugi I.C. ![]() Please enjoy relaxing in our hot spring, which is open throughout the night. ![]() Surrounded by nature's bounty, the Saginoyu hot spring takes its name from an ancient story that heron ( sagi ) used to stand in the spring to heal their legs. Hotel Saginoyuso is only a 30 second walk from the Adachi Museum Of Art famous for its beautiful Japanese garden. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |