Australian tourists are visiting Japan in record numbers, with one million travelers expected to arrive this year. In Tokyo visitors are increasingly attracted by the nation’s food – the city has become the number one destination for food lovers with more Michelin star restaurants than its nearest rival Paris. On Foreign Correspondent the ABC’s north Asia correspondent James Oaten sets out to discover what’s driving this foodie obsession. He meets a world expert on tuna, one of the country's best sushi chefs and a 96-year-old eel master to see first-hand what it takes to be the best. From the onigiri lunch shops to the world's best ramen restaurant James goes in search of the secret to Japan’s culinary success. 0:00 Tokyo, The Food Capital of the World 2:09 Meet Yukitaka Yamaguchi, The Tuna King. 4:44 Introducing Mei Kogo, Sushi Chef 5:52 What’s Tokyo secret to why it has so much good food? 6:34 Meet Kenjiro Kanemoto, The 96 Year Old Eel Master 11:30 Mei Kogo, On Sushi and Shokunin 15:39 Osamu Tomita, Ramen Master, In pursuit of perfection 20:33 Yuka Hayakawa, Onigiri Artist, On social media’s influence 23:53 Mei Kogo, On why Tokyo’s culinary success is simple to understand Subscribe: https://ab.co/3yqPOZ5 Foreign Correspondent is the prime-time international public affairs program on Australia's national broadcaster, ABC-TV. We produce half-hour duration in-depth reports for broadcast across the ABC's television channels and digital platforms. Since 1992, our teams have journeyed to more than 170 countries to report on conflict, natural disasters and social and political upheaval – through the eyes of the people at the heart of it all. Welcome to ABC News In-depth, where you'll find our long-form journalism and other videos to help you understand what's going on in the world around you. Watch more ABC News content ad-free on ABC iview: https://ab.co/2OB7Mk1 For more from ABC News, click here: https://ab.co/2kxYCZY Get breaking news and livestreams from our ABC News channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/NewsOnABC Like ABC News on Facebook: http://facebook.com/abcnews.au Follow ABC News on Instagram: http://instagram.com/abcnews_au Follow ABC News on Twitter: http://twitter.com/abcnews
ADVERTISEMENT
Besides the taste, the food culture of the Japanese prioritizes safety and cleanliness. I love everything about the Japanese cuisine.
I live in Tokyo and Tokyo is probably the most competitive city in the world for food. I've been to New York, London, Sydney, and visited some of the highly regarded Japanese restaurants there, but to be honest, even those restaurants would not survive in Tokyo.
Last year, we visited Japan the first time and hit Kyoto and Osaka. Since we love it so much, we are going back for over 2 weeks and Tokyo by itself is one full week. Can't wait!
Currently travelling Japan and can confirm, food in Japan is exceptionally good.
Some of the reasons I’ve loved living in Tokyo for more than 15yrs.
The Japanese are incredible. I love everything about their culture.
I've traveled the world and NOTHING comes close to Japanese cuisine in the variety, innovation, flavor and craftmanship behind each dish. No other place in the planet except those who copied the Japanese model can you get a convenience store meal that packs a bigger punch than a lot of restaurant meals in places like the US and Europe. Japan is just different.
Looking forward visiting Japan (Tokyo) for the 1st time coming May!!!
I live in Tokyo and can tell you it is the best place on earth.
The Japanese have A LOT more pride in what they do.
Indeed. The Japanese are seriously committed to making great food. Even their aiport food is tasty.
I wish many visitors to experience Japanese sense for food from ordinary dishes, not only high quality one. Why we say ‘Itadakimasu’ and ‘Gochisosama’ and all of Japanese eat a last grain of rice, comes from our spiritual culture for foods more than one thousand years.
I recently ate at Mr Kanemoto's restaurant and if there was a way to describe it would be "Pure perfection." There's a lot of other amazing restaurants around the same area but a lot of them are contemporary or try to push boundaries with interesting flavour combinations but at his restaurant, the food was very practical and quite normal but it was it was the best eel I've ever had with the best sauce. No bs, no gimmicks, simply perfect. He was also the doorman at the restaurant saying goodbye to every customer and opening the door for them.
Japanese people are said to be shy, but I think they are a very strict people when it comes to food lol. Japanese people don't get angry when politicians commit fraud or when taxes are raised, but if the food at a local restaurant is bad, they will quietly get angry and the restaurant will go out of business quickly.
I can clearly see how different American and Japanese cultures are. America is about "OK. That is good enough. Let's produce this cheaply and quickly."
I lived in Japan for ten years. I love the food and the people.
細部にこだわる職人気質、人生を賭けたおもてなし精神など日本人のキャラクターを食の部分から探った素晴らしいドキュメンタリーですね。未来も日本は日本らしく先人から引き継いだ伝統と文化を改善し続け、真面目でひたむきな努力を重ねていくでしょう。
It's always such a privilege and a pleasure to see a master at work, especially when delicious food is involved. I guess now is a great time to visit Tokyo since our dollar is doing so well against the Yen. Nice to see such a wholesome video from Foreign Correspondent.
The Japanese take pride in all they do
Come to Hokkaido instead! Hokkaido is one of the few prefectures in Japan with a food self-sufficiency rate exceeding 120%. 😊