The Spirit of Japan: Passing Down The Tradition Of Shochu In The Modern Era

https://yamatozakura.com/　https://www.thespiritofjapan.com/ Our guests are Stephen Lyman and Joseph Overbey who have produced the documentary The Spirit of Japan.  It is the story of the Wakamatsu family, who have been making the traditional Japanese distilled spirit, shochu, at their Yamatozakura Distillery in Kagoshima Prefecture since the 1850s. The duo follows the life of Yamatozakura’s 5th generation toji/master distiller Tekkan Wakamatsu and how the distillery’s tradition is being passed down from the 4th generation toji and Tekkan’s father Kazunari Wakamatsu.  The film is beautifully shot and captures many aspects of Tekkan’s career, life with his family and the shochu industry.  In this episode, we will discuss how Joseph and Stephen got involved in Yamatozakura Distillery, what they want to communicate to the audience through the film, gifts and challenges of succeeding a traditional family business, what is happening with the Japanese shochu industry right now and much, much more!!!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our guest is Kyle Connaughton, who is the chef/owner of SingleThread https://singlethreadfarms.com/ in California. SingleThread is a very unique farm, restaurant, and inn, which has earned numerous accolades since its opening in 2016, including three Michelin stars, three Michelin keys and a Michelin Green Star, which recognizes the outstanding sustainability at the farm managed by Kyle’s wife and co-owner Katina Connaughton.   Kyle began his culinary career in L.A. with an apprenticeship at one of the oldest Japanese restaurants in the city, followed by training at top restaurants, such as Spago Beverly Hills, The Dining Room at Ritz-Carlton and A.O.C.  Then he moved to Japan and cooked for the famed French chef Michel Bras, as well as at traditional Japanese restaurants.  On top of these diverse experiences, he also worked at the highly innovative restaurant The Fat Duck in the U.K. as the Head Chef of Research & Development.  In this episode, we will discuss how Kyle fell in love with Japanese cuisine at a very young age, how his global experiences formed his unique culinary philosophy and style, the fascinating concept of SingleThread, the idea of Omotenashi that Kyle highly values and much, much more!!!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our guest is Takahiro Sakaeda who is the chef/partner of Nami Nori https://www.naminori.us/.  Nami Nori is a unique concept of temaki sushi bar that serves open-style hand rolls on a U-shaped stand. Since its opening in 2019 in New York, Taka has created many fans of his beautifully made, casual and high-quality sushi.  Now he operates four locations of Nami Nori in New York, New Jersey and Miami. But his success didn’t come easily.  Taka spent 10 years at Masa, one of the best sushi restaurants in the U.S. with three Michelin stars and acquired an authentic mindset and sushi-making techniques under the master chef Masayoshi Takayama. In this episode, we will discuss how Taka grew up in the U.S. under Japanese parents and got into cooking against their will, what he learned from the master chef Masa Takayama, the unique concept of Nami Nori, his original culinary vision that merges two cultures of Japan and the U.S., his new 10 counter-seat restaurant in Miami and Japanese bakery in New York and much, much more!!!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our guest is Takumi Kuwabara who is the toji or brewmaster at SakéOne in Forest Grove, Oregon. SakéOne (https://www.sakeone.com/) is a unique sake brewery.  It was founded in 1992 by Momokawa Brewing in Aomori Prefecture, Japan, which was founded in 1889. SakéOne started sake-brewing in 1997 and since then, its sake has won multiple awards at prestigious competitions like the U.S. National Sake Appraisal and the San Francisco International Wine Competition.  And of course, a big part of its success has come from Takumi’s craftsmanship. In this episode, we will discuss how Takumi studied sake in Japan and also in the U.S. after he arrived in the country in 2004, the unique terroir Oregon offers to make high-quality sake, challenges in making sake outside of Japan, how he sees the past and future of the American sake market and much, much more!!!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our guest is Yoshinori Ishi who is the executive chef and producer of Auberge TOKITO https://www.aubergetokito.com/en/ in Tachikawa, Tokyo.  Chef Ishii’s background is unique and spectacular.  He worked at one of the top Kaiseki restaurants in Kyoto called Arashiyama Kiccho as a sous chef and moved abroad to cook at the United Nations Ambassador's Residence in Geneva and New York.  Then he moved to London to open Umu, which earned two Michelin stars—the first two stars by a Japanese restaurant in Europe.  After 10 years of success at Umu, he decided to open Auberge Tokito in the suburb of Tokyo. In this episode, we will discuss how Chef Ishii’s philosophy of Japanese cuisine transitioned and expanded over the last 35 years of his career in Japan and abroad, why he decided to go back to Japan to start a new project, the innovative concept of Auberge TOKITO, which focuses on the Japanese cuisine that never existed before and much, much more!!! The documentary film TOKITO:  https://www.tokitofilm.com/enSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our guest is Isao Yamada who is the chef-owner of Yamada https://www.yamadanewyork.com/ in New York.  He was classically trained in Kyoto as a Kaiseki chef and opened his own restaurant at the age of 25 in his hometown Fukuoka.  He could have successfully built his career in Japan but he decided to move to the U.S. in 2006 to pursue new challenges.Chef Yamada’s career in the U.S. evolved as he worked closely with the legendary chef David Bouley in New York.  He earned a Michelin star as the executive chef at Chef Bouley’s Kaiseki restaurant Brushstroke.  In April 2025, Chef Yamada opened his own beautiful restaurant Yamada in Manhattan.In this episode, we will discuss Chef Yamada’s unique career, how he collaborated with the legendary Chef Bouley, his Kaiseki dishes at Yamada that seamlessly merge authenticity and creativity, his joy and challenges in cooking in America, how Japanese cuisine in America has changed in the last two decades and much, much more!!!Follow Chef Yamada on Instagram @chef_yamada.isao, as well as his restaurant Yamada @yamadanyc!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our guest is Isao Yamada who is the chef-owner of Yamada https://www.yamadanewyork.com/ in New York.  He was classically trained in Kyoto as a Kaiseki chef and opened his own restaurant at the age of 25 in his hometown Fukuoka.  He could have successfully built his career in Japan but he decided to move to the U.S. in 2006 to pursue new challenges.Chef Yamada’s career in the U.S. evolved as he worked closely with the legendary chef David Bouley in New York.  He earned a Michelin star as the executive chef at Chef Bouley’s Kaiseki restaurant Brushstroke.  In April 2025, Chef Yamada opened his own beautiful restaurant Yamada in Manhattan.  In this episode, we will discuss Chef Yamada’s unique career, how he collaborated with the legendary Chef Bouley, his Kaiseki dishes at Yamada that seamlessly merge authenticity and creativity, his joy and challenges in cooking in America, how Japanese cuisine in America has changed in the last two decades and much, much more!!!Follow Chef Yamada on Instagram @chef_yamada.isao, as well as his restaurant Yamada @yamadanyc!

Our guests are Rahul Saito and Mitsu Nagae.  Rahul is the owner and Mitsu is the co-owner and executive chef at l’abeille https://www.labeille.nyc and l’abeille à côté https://www.labeilleacote.nyc/ in Tribeca, New York. The duo opened l’abeille in March 2022 and shortly after, they won a Michelin star, thanks to Mitsu’s unique and outstanding culinary background as a Japanese chef classically trained in Paris, Tokyo and New York as well as Rahul’s sound management despite being new to the industry. Mitsu’s menus are characterized by a seamless merge of French and Japanese cuisines, which seems to have become a relevant genre in places like Paris and Japan as well. In this episode, we will discuss how Mitsu got into French cuisine from a young age in Japan and eventually trained under top chefs like the late Joel Robuchon, why the seemingly opposite French and Japanese cuisines can go so well together as you can see in Mitsu’s menus, the keys to run successful restaurants in New York and much, much more!!!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our guest is Takatoshi Kadowaki who is the chef-owner of Sushi Kadowaki https://sushi-kadowaki.jp/eng/ in Tokyo.  He started his sushi-chef training at 17 and after his master retired, he moved to the U.S. and developed a global mindset.  Now he serves authentic Edomae-style sushi in the Ginza area of Tokyo, where every sushi chef dreams about opening a sushi bar. Chef Kadowaki is known for his meticulous sourcing of his fish and his skills in maximizing umami through careful aging, which is a part of the Edomae-sushi traditions. In this episode, we will discuss what Edomae-sushi is compared to other styles of sushi, the key to maximizing umami in fish through aging, his unique beverage pairing philosophy, including red wine and sushi and much, much more!!!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our guest is Daniel Bennett who is the sake sommelier at Sushi-san www.sushisanrestaurant.com and The Omakase Room at Sushi-san www.theomakaseroom.com in Chicago.  Both are a part of Lettuce Entertain You Restaurants, which is an independent, family-owned restaurant group that owns, manages and licenses more than 110 restaurants nationwide with over 60 concepts ranging from fast casual to fine dining. Daniel is a certified sake sommelier and has approximately 15 years of deep experience working in Japanese food and sake. In this episode, we will discuss how he built his career in sake, what types of sake people are drinking in America now, his collaboration with a 200-year-old sake brewery to make a private label for his guests, how he trains his staff to get certified as sake sommeliers and much, much more!!!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.