Features

We’re delivering dreams and excitement to the world—not just selling hot dogs

日本語 Interview by Isao Tokuhashi and Jennifer A. Hoff Edited by Jennifer A. Hoff info@myeyestokyo.com   Noriki Tamura Entrepreneur When we at My Eyes Tokyo (MET) planned to travel to Canada this year (2023), Jennifer, MET’s English editor-in-chief who is a native Vancouverite, told us about a hot dog chain that she had been familiar with for many years — “JAPADOG“, a Japanese-style hotdog restaurant that operates both in Vancouver and in the United States. It has been featured in numerous media outlets for its uniqueness and has become so integrated into the everyday lives of the locals that all

INTERVIEWS

Expanding business all over the world and helping children in need – Both are my dreams.

Interviewed & Written by Isao Tokuhashi Edited by Daniel Penso Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com   Serkan Toso (Turkey) Food Entrepreneur One day we received a mail saying, “I would like to collaborate with you.” The mail came from Serkan, a Turkish man who has his own online platform which provides information about food events to visitors to Tokyo. We got interested in him because of the reasons below; 1. He is from Turkey. We’ve never happened upon a Turkish IT entrepreneur in Japan. 2. He is Muslim, which means he must have food restrictions. It is interesting that that kind of

INTERVIEWS

Sushi represents Japan. It doesn’t represent only Japanese culture, but Japan itself.

Interviewed & Written by Isao Tokuhashi Edited by Daniel Penso Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com   Shihomi Homma & Ayumi Aalto Itamae/Sushi cooking instructors (*Continued from the featured article) The sushi class that we introduced to you in the previous page is very rare because there are just a few female itamae (板前, cook in a Japanese kitchen), even in Japan. We covered “Nadeshico Sushi”, a sushi restaurant in Akihabara, which only has female itamae, that opened around a decade ago, but we have never met women who work as itamae or chefs since then. But, recently we heard about a sushi

Features

Sushi class for diehard sushi lovers!

Reported by Isao Tokuhashi Edited by Daniel Penso Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com   Sushi – a representative of Japanese cuisine. You can have or get sushi everywhere in the world. It’s quite common to see people who have never been to Japan getting sushi boxes at supermarkets and having them at staff lounges in their offices. It’s great to have an authentic one, but making sushi by yourself in Japan also would be a wonderful experience. If you are interested in sushi making, you should try “Japan Cross Bridge”, a sushi class which is organized by experienced Japanese twin sisters. As

Features

Engay Food Spreading to the World

Interviewed & composed by Isao Tokuhashi Edited by Daniel Penso Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com Photo provided by NUTRI Co., Ltd.   Do you know “Engay food”? Engay (“嚥下” in Chinese characters) means “swallowing”. There are meals for people who cannot swallow food or people with swallowing disorder or the dysphagia. They can take it from their mouth free from anxiety – that is “Engay food”. Dysphagia can lead to pneumonia. About 70% of people 70 and over are said to have aspiration pneumonia (pneumonia caused by bacteria flowing into the lungs with saliva and gastric juice) and some of them die

INTERVIEWS

Small place, large vision – You will find something spectacular even in small spaces

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com   Chiu Yin Mei (Hong Kong) Catering Chef, Food and Beverage Public Relations Expert July 1 – It’s the day of Hong Kong’s reversion to China, which took place in 1997. We would like to introduce you today to a Hong Kong Food and Beverage Public Relations Expert and a Catering Chef who has all along been working as a bridge between Hong Kong and Japan food related industry – Ms. Chiu Yin Mei. Yin was introduced by Ms. Tomoko Komatsuzaki to us, who promotes Japanese food related items to Asian

INTERVIEWS

I will create a culture which encourages both profit generation and contribution to society.

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com   Kaoru Joho Entrepreneur One day we happened to find an interesting app on Facebook timeline. It enables you to give school meals to children in developing countries by booking seats at restaurants, bars, izakayas, etc. in Japan. The app is called “Table Cross”, which implies “Cross any boundary, connect with each other through food and make the world happier”. This app is not an interesting app, but it’s really helpful. You can make a difference in the world if you book seats at restaurants – maybe you’ve done it at

INTERVIEWS

My goal is to spread fake food replicas originating from Osaka around the world.

                                                                                  Justin D. Hanus (USA) Founder/CEO of Fake Food Japan (Resident in Japan since 2001) Have you seen “fake food replicas”? Ones that are made out of plastic and sculpted to look like actual dishes? The fake food items we’re referring to are the ones in display cases of restaurants or cafes throughout Japan. Mr. Hanus started the “Fake Food

INTERVIEWS

Cooking is not something to teach.

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com   Munshi R. Sultana (Bangladesh) Bangladesh cuisine instructor (She’s been in Japan since 1976) She conveys an extremely gentle atmosphere which embraces her students, so they totally became like her daughter. They were charmed by her gentle way of talking, her smile which seems like it accepts everything and of course her cuisine. They lost track of time talking to each other with laughs. It was already candle-night when they looked at a clock and hastily cleared off the dishes and washed them. Once you step in her classroom, everyone becomes

INTERVIEWS

I need to accommodate myself to Japanese culture in order to be here.

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com   Houda Sellami Tunisian cuisine instructor (She’s been in Japan since June 2010) Today we introduce you to a cooking instructor from Tunisia, a North African country along the Mediterranean Sea. Houda Sellami, a very calm, very motherly and gentle-mannered woman. I didn’t believe that she came from a country where the Jasmine Revolution took place in 2010. I told her that and she laughed; “I called my family when it occurred. They told me that they were OK and I didn’t need to worry that much. Media always exaggerate things”.