ACF 1186: NEW PEOPLE S.F. to offer filled rice snacks from Onigilly

Popular Bay Area Food Cart Embarks On First Non-Mobile

FoodVenture Offering Healthy Rice Snacks Filled

With Delectable Fillings AtPremiere Bay Area

Japanese Pop Culture Venue

Here's some tasty news from San Francisco:

NEW PEOPLE, the dynamic San Franciscoentertainment destination bringing the latest examples of Japanese popularculture to North American shores, has expanded its delectable menu of imaginativesnacks and tasty Japanese entrees with the addition of Onigiri rice balls fromOnigilly, a popular local food cart that has been a part of the Bay Area's renowned food incubation program provided by La Cocina (NPC).

Thecollaboration with NEW PEOPLE is the first retail venture for Onigilly atnon-mobile food service location. The Bay Area start-up company, founded byKoji Kanematsu, makes Onigiri – tightly-packed balls of 30% polished brown ricewith a simple seaweed wrapper and filled with a variety of scrumptious andnutrient rich fillings. Onigilly is very particular about the delicious andhealthy ingredients it uses. Everything is made from scratch with no artificialingredients and prepared fresh daily. More information on Onigilly is availableat: www.onigilly.com.

A selectionof Onigilly’s healthy and tasty Japanese treats, including Spicy Shrimp, Eggplant, Hijiki (a type of Japanese seaweed) and Ume (japanese plums) flavored rice balls are now available from the Cinema Cafe at NEW PEOPLE located in the venue's lobby. Selections are available individually for $2.75 each and also as a lunch box for $7.00, which features 3 Onigilly rice balls, edamame and pickled ginger.

“Onigilly isan inspiring start up and is developing a big gourmet following around the BayArea with their healthy and delectable creations, and we’re very excited tocollaborate with them and make their food available in our café,” says SeijiHoribuchi, president and founder of NEW PEOPLE, Inc. “Onigilly shares NEWPEOPLE’s core mission to inject a clever and sophisticated dose of  Japanese popular culture into all they do andwe look forward to the Japantowncommunity and NEW PEOPLE visitors joining with us to welcome our newest tastyaddition.”

NEW PEOPLEopened in 2009 and has become a unique must-see attraction of San Francisco’scultural landscape. The 20,000 square foot contemporaryvenue featuresthe latest examples Japanese popular culture expressed though film, art,fashion, and a variety of specialty boutiques and ongoing monthly events. NEWPEOPLE is located at 1746 Post Street in the city’s Japantown.

 

ACF 1009: Special theatrical screening of doc "Eatrip" in S.F. on May 21st, 2011

NEW PEOPLE PRESENTS A SPECIAL THEATRICAL SCREENING OF
EATRIP – A JAPANESE FOOD DOCUMENTARY

Unique Film Release Explores The Ways That Food Unites Humanity And Explores
The Interpersonal Relationships People Forge Through Eating

NEW PEOPLE, the nation’s only entertainment complex dedicated to Japanese popular culture, will present a special theatrical screening of the new culinary documentary Eatrip on Saturday, May 21st, to celebrate the release of the DVD by NEW PEOPLE Entertainment. (Read about the scheduled release of the DVD here.) The film takes audiences on an intriguing journey throughout Japan and features interviews with interesting personalities from a variety of walks of life to look at how life can be led richly through the daily ritual of eating.

Eatrip will screen at 3:00pm, 5:00pm, and 7:00pm. A special ticket package for $25.00 includes a pass to the screening, a copy of the new DVD and a promotional poster. Tickets to the movie-only are available for only $10.00. More details on the Eatrip screenings are available at: www.newpeopleworld.com.

Eatrip director Yuri Nomura

To eat is more than a necessity – it’s a universal experience all human beings share. In the film, Yuri Nomura embarks on an insightful journey throughout Japan to examine the daily rituals of eating among people from different walks of life. Actor Tadanobu Asano, singer UA, and fashion designer Jurgen Lehl are among those featured. From the Tsukiji fish market to a farm in Okinawa, the film offers poignant interviews with intriguing personalities including the head monk of a famous Buddhist temple; a distributor of Japanese soup stock (Bonito broth); an Okinawan woman leading a self-sustainable lifestyle devoid of modern conveniences; a tea ceremony master, and a musician and writer who recites poems about food.

Eatrip was an official selection of the Montreal World Film Festival 2009 in the Documentaries of the World category; the Vancouver International Film Festival 2009; Le Festival International du Film d’Environnement 2009 (Paris); and the Barcelona Asian Film Festival 2010.

ACF 917: New York Tokyo offering two ramen-themed tour packages

(c) BASSANOVA by BRIAN MACDUCKSTON

Like ramen? Want to visit Japan? If your answer to both is "Yes" and you have the time and money, New York - Tokyo is offering two tour packages that will surely satisfy your desires.

NYT GO is New York - Tokyo's new project to promote a global lifestyle following the "design your trip" approach. NYT GO is self explanatory with no tour guide. Each participant would know what they want for themselves before the trip and will take care of themselves.

NYT GO: RAMEN is NYT GO's first trial. With the recent global popularity of Ramen, the tour's first destination is Tokyo. Tokyo is the origin of Ramen. The "mecca" has over 5,000 Ramen shops. The tour is an economical and smart 7 day trip for the busy, creative, and urban youth. With visits to various key points such as the Raumen Museum and other locations with the tour group, you will also have plenty of free time on your designed trip!

More information is available at http://www.newyork-tokyo.com/wp/ramen/.

RAMEN
- Enjoy Ramen as much as you like

CULTURE
- Explore Tokyo and enjoy the beautiful cherry blossom season
- For fashion interests, Japan Fashion Week (Mar.18-25)

FLEXIBLE UPGRADE OPTIONS
- Extended stay

SUPPORT
- Helpful Tokyo Ramen info on NYT GO: RAMEN website
- Happy mixer (Ramen lecture/Trip design advise/Party) before trip
- Daily report on NYT GO: RAMEN site during your trip
- NYT staff will be on trip as a reporter and for emergencies (*not a tour guide)

2 PACKAGES TO SELECT FROM:

NYT GO: RAMEN - [A] TIME SAVER
- JFK - HND* Mar.23 (Wed) 7:10PM - Mar.24 (Thu) 10:15PM
- HND - JFK Mar.29 (Wed) 6:40AM - Mar.29 (Tue) 6:15AM
- Less vacation TIME from work and land transportation in Tokyo

NYT GO: RAMEN - [B] MONEY SAVER
- JFK - NRT* Mar.23 (Wed) 11:35AM - Mar.24 (Thu) 2:30PM
- HND - JFK Mar.29 (Wed) 6:40AM - Mar.29 (Tue) 6:15AM
- Lower RATE for a longer stay in Tokyo

*HND: Haneda Airport (closer to Tokyo Metropolitan area)
*NRT: Narita Airport

BUY TICKETS NOW
7 DAY TOUR: TIME SAVER $1,700 MONEY SAVER $1,500

ITINERARY:

Day 1: Mar.23 (Wed)
[B] 11:15AM Departure from JFK
[A] 7:15PM Departure from JFK <- Leave from work!

Day 2: Mar.24 (Thu)

[B] 2:30PM Arrival NRT - trans. to Hotel (2 hours) EV Ramen Park Sinatatsu

[A] 10:15PM Arrival HND - trans. to Hotel (30 min)

Stay at Shinagawa Prince Hotel

Day 3: Mar.25 (Fri)

AM- Shinyokohama Raumen Museum

PM -Your own

Stay at Shinagawa Prince Hotel

Day 4: Mar 26 (Sat)

AM - Tsukiji Market

PM - Your own

Stay at Shinagawa Prince Hotel

Day 5: Mar.27 (Sun)

AM/PM - Your own

Stay at Shinagawa Prince Hotel

Day 6: Mar.28 (Mon)

AM - Your own

PM - Bassanova

Day 7: Mar. 29 (Tue)

6:15AM Departure from HND

6:30AM Arriving JFK -> Go home and then work!

ACF 784: VIZ Pictures announces planned 2011 release of documentary "Eatrip"

VIZ PICTURES LICENSES DIRECTOR YURI NOMURA’S
SCRUMPTOUS CULINARY DOCUMENTARY EATRIP

New Film Explores The Ways That Food Unites Humanity And Explores
The Interpersonal Relationships People Forge Through Eating

VIZ Pictures, an affiliate of VIZ Media that focuses on Japanese live-action film distribution, has announced that it has licensed Eatrip, a documentary that takes audiences on a journey throughout Japan to look at how life can be led richly through the daily ritual of eating.

Yuri Nomura, a food coordinator, columnist, and teacher, makes her directorial debut with this film. In Japan, she is widely active with her food creative team Eatrip. VIZ Pictures plans to release the film in 2011. Eatrip was an official selection of the Montreal World Film Festival 2009 in the Documentaries of the World category; the Vancouver International Film Festival 2009; Le Festival International du Film d’Environnement 2009 (Paris); and the Barcelona Asian Film Festival 2010.

To eat is more than a necessity – it’s a universal experience all human beings share. In the film,Yuri Nomura embarks on an insightful journey throughout Japan to examine the daily rituals of eating among people from a variety of walks of life. Actor Tadanobu Asano, singer UA, and fashion designer Jurgen Lehl are among those featured. From the Tsukiji fish market to a farm in Okinawa, the film offers poignant interviews with intriguing personalities including the head monk of a famous Buddhist temple; a distributor of Japanese soup stock (Bonito broth); an Okinawan woman leading a self-sustainable lifestyle devoid of modern conveniences; a tea ceremony master, and a musician and writer who recites poems about food.

“Eatrip is a cinematic culinary journey that explores the interpersonal relationships that food nurtures,” says Seiji Horibuchi, President and CEO of VIZ Pictures. “Through interviews with a variety of people, Yuri Nomura shows the ways that food and the ritual of eating unites humanity and creates strong bonds between human beings. We’re very pleased to license this documentary and look forward to audiences gleaning new meaning from something so essential to life that we all do every day.”

For more information on Eatrip or other VIZ Pictures titles, visit http://www.viz-pictures.com/.

ACF 698: Celebrate local Japanese dishes at "Soul Food Festival" this Sunday

Soul Food Festival
Sunday, September 26th, 2010
From 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM
Upper East Side
Lexington Avenue between 94th and 95th Streets

Tomorrow's Soul Food Festival will celebrate the local Japanese dishes—or "soul food"—unique to specific regions of Japan, showcasing the rich diversity of Japanese cuisine beyond commonly-known dishes such as sushi. This festival will focus on the regional specialties of Kyushu, Japan's southernmost island. Several Kyushu prefectures and New York restaurants will acquaint New York with some of Japanese cuisine's best-kept secrets.

Many Japanese localities have popular dishes made with traditional recipes and local ingredients, just as Philadelphia has cheesesteaks and New England has clam chowder. Participating New York Japanese restaurants will serve the soul food from their respective hometowns. Hakata Tonton's collagen-rich tonsoku and Hide-Chan Ramen's yaki ramen, both from Fukuoka, and Umi No Ie's fresh hand-pulled thin udon delivered daily from the Goto Islands will inspire visitors with a taste for more authentic specialty Japanese food.

Vendors arriving from Kyushu prefectures of Nagasaki, Oita, Saga, and Kumamoto will occupy one block of the festival and exhibit their traditional and modern dishes. Look for ikinari dango (a dumpling of potato and red bean), taipi-en (vermicelli of Chinese origin with a local twist), nikumai onigiri (juicy pork-wrapped rice balls), and even pet health supplements from Kumamoto. Fukuoka will dish up its famous kamaboko (fish cakes) made from a technique used since the Edo era and the Yuzusco brand citron pepper seasoning. Takeo City of Saga prefecture will have zesty lemongrass green tea, herb tea, and cider.

Additional eats include warabimochi (a kinko-smothered confection), Japanese curry from Go! Go! Curry!, okonomiyaki, yakitori, and konnyaku. Besides food, there will be regional Japanese products, entertainment, raffles for airline tickets, Japanese accessories and anime products for sale. Come visit the JapanTown Soul Food festival on September 26th to taste the uniqueness of Japan!

Directions to the Soul Food Festival:

Location:
Lexington Avenue between 94th and 95th Streets (Map)

Subway:
6 train to 77th St.; 4, 5, 6 train to 86th St.; 6 train to 96th St.

ACF 691: Masahiro Shinoda film sidebar at New York Film Festival 2010

(c) Mineko Orisaku

The 48th New York Film Festival will be featuring a sidebar series entitled "NYFF MASTERWORKS: Elegant Elegies: The Films of Masahiro Shinoda." The series will run from Saturday, September 25th through Sunday, October 10th, 2010. Here's a brief statement from The Film Society of Lincoln Center:

Gamblers betting it all in games they can’t win, samurais heading into their final battles, lovers realizing their bonds are no match for an uncaring destiny: Welcome to the remarkable universe of Masahiro Shinoda. A spectacular filmmaker key to the Japanese New Wave, Shinoda was fascinated by both traditional Japanese aesthetics and the modernity of cinema. We’re honored to welcome Mr. Shinoda to this year’s festival for this special tribute, presented as part of the 150th Anniversary Celebration of Japan-NYC Friendship.

For info about the series, including descriptions of all the films to be screened, showtimes & dates, and to purchase tickets online, click here. Among those thirteen movies that will be shown, I have seen Double Suicide and Samurai Spy. Both are great movies, and are available on typically outstanding Criterion DVDs for those who can't make it to Lincoln Center.

ACF 546: New Tale of Zatoichi at Japan Society, Saturday, April 24th at 5:00 PM

© Kadokawa Pictures, Inc.

New Tale of Aztoichi / Shin Zatoichi monogatari
A.K.A. Zatoichi the Blind Swordsman, Vol. 3 - New Tale of Zatoichi

Directed by Tokuzo Tanaka
Japan, 1963, color, 91 min
Showtime: Saturday, April 24th, 2010 at 5:00 PM

Zatoichi (Shintaro Katsu) returns to his hometown hoping to leave behind his wayward lifestyle., He reunites with his former sensei, whose daughter brazenly proposes marriage to the Z-man. Further complicating matters are a mysterious gang of criminals and a fellow drifter looking for revenge. Life's never easy for our unfortunate blind masseur.

This is the third in the series of Zatoichi films and the first one in color. Katsu is even more outstanding than usual in conveying Zatoichi's emotional reactions, especially the hurt he feels when he's slighted by his master.

New Tale of Zatoichi gets a 3.5 out of 4 star ACF rating; very highly recommended.

For the Japan Society website page for this film, which includes a link to buy tickets online, click here.

This screening of New Tale of Zatoichi is part of the Monthly Classic Series The Double Edged Sword: The Chambara Films of Shintaro Katsu & Raizo Ichikawa.

New Tale of Zatoichi is available on DVD from Home Vision Entertainment. It also is one of eighteen Zatoichi films that can be streamed from Hulu.com. All of which is fine if you can't make it to this screening. But if you can, Japan Society's presentation is the far better way to go.

ACF 452: Oishinbo a la Carte #7

OISHINBO A LA CARTE © Tetsu KARIYA, Akira HANASAKI/Shogakuka

The final volume of Oishinbo A La Carte, the terrific food manga written by Tetsu Kariya and illustrated by AkiraHanasaki, is due out this Tuesday, January 19th. Volume 7, Izayaya: Pub Food is rated ‘T’ for Teens and carries an estimated retail price of $12.99 US and $16.99 CAN.

If you've read any of my reviews of some of the previous volumes, you know that I've loved them all, and the same is true of Izakaya. (While I've read all the volumes, I haven't reviewed each one.) Not only is the series informative in an entertaining way, it also has a great thru-story and interesting characters. It's clear why this series was so successful in Japan, where it ran to over 100 volumes. The American market clearly would not support reproducing the entire series, so VIZ has smartly and thoughtfully condensed highlights from the series into these seven volumes.

The main character is Yamaoka Shiro (left, below), a journalist for the Tozai News. He's a slacker when it comes to work except when it involves a good meal or helping a friend. Together with Kurita Yuko (right, below), a co-worker with whom a romantic relationships eventually emerges, he's entrusted with coming up with the "Ultimate Menu," a model meal to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the paper.

The complete series from VIZ consists of:

Volume 1, Japanese Cuisine

Volume 2, Sake

Volume 3, Ramen & Gyoza

Volume 4, Fish, Sushi & Sashimi

Volume 5, Vegetables

Volume 6, Rice

Volume 7, Izakaya: Pub Food

They're solid individually and spectacular as a complete collection. I highly recommend each and every one of them.

ACF 430: Oishinbo a la Carte - The Joy of Rice

OISHINBO A LA CARTE © Tetsu KARIYA, Akira HANASAKI/Shogakukan Inc.

The latest installment in the Oishinbo a la Carte manga series recently became available from VIZ Media. This one is all about that quintessential Japanese food, rice. It covers such topics as the optimum moisture content of rice grains before cooking, when organic brown rice can be very unhealthy, foods that actually taste better with rice than by themselves, and dishes in which other items are either cooked separately or together with the rice.

All this is remarkably entertaining as well as informative.

Rice of course has been of major importance to the Japanese for millennia. So much so that it was used as a unit of monetary exchange, the koku (approximately 330 lbs of rice), and of a daimyo's (feudal Japanese lord's) wealth. Estates were appraised by how many koku of rice they could produce.

By coincidence, shortly after reading this volume, I happened to watch Seijun Suzuki's Branded to Kill again. In it, Jo Shishido's character has a thing for smelling fresh cooked rice. In an interview on the Criterion DVD, Suzuki explains that since the character was an assassin, he did not think the character would crave the smell of cooked meat. So instead, Suzuki says, he decided to use rice, the most Japanese of all foods.

Oishinbo ("The Gourmet") has sold over 100 million copies since it began publication in 1983. The VIZ a la carte editions compile selected highlights by topic. Consequently, the narrative is sometimes non-chronological. That is, developments in the story line that occur in one edition may not have yet occurred at points in a subsequent edition. Fortunately, there's a concise, easy to use appendix of notes at the end of each volume. Here such "temporal dislocations" are explained, and additional terms are described.

The Joy of Rice is another fine volume in this terrific manga series, which is definitely one of my favorites. The only downside about it that occurs to me is that, like every other volume, it made me hungry and wishing that I was wealthy enough to fly to Japan and eat and drink nothing but the best of the national cuisine!

Finally, for your info, the next and I believe final a la carte edition will explore the world of izakaya - Japanese bars and drinking establishments. It's due to be available in January 2010.

ACF 244: Oishinbo A la Carte - Japanese cuisine manga from VIZ

Oishinbo A la Carte © Tetsu Kariya, Akira Hanasaki/Shogakukan Inc.

Oishinbo A la Carte
Story by Tetsu Kariya
Art by Akira Hanasaki
B&W, 260+ pages, rated "T" for teens
SRP $12.99 U.S./$15.00 CDN

It may not be absolutely true, but it certainly seems as if the Japanese have a manga for just about any subject you can name. Oshinbo (which translates as "The Gourmet") explores the surprisingly complex world of Japanese cooking and has sold over 100 million copies since the first volume appeared in 1983.

This fascinating and informative series now runs to over 100 volumes! VIZ media, under the VIZ Signature imprint, has compiled selected highlights into seven a la carte editions for English readers. This is the first one, and it's currently available..

Yamaoka Shiro, a journalist for the Tozai news, has been placed in charge of the paper's Ultimate Menu project. Dramatic conflict is present in the form of Shiro's father, a prominent artist and epicure. He founded and is director of The Gourmet Club. Father and son have an unpleasant history, and they miss no opportunity to deride and belittle one another. This provides the through-story for the characters' - and the reader's - journey through the world of fine Japanese cuisine.

The illustrations are first rate, and a diverse layout is employed, which keeps the pages visually interesting. I'm no authority on manga styles, but for me Hanasaki's drawings remind me a bit of master Ozamu Tezuka's work. And I mean that as a high compliment, not in any way a slight.

The book is laid out in traditional Japanese style, meaning it is read from right to left. This English version thoughtfully includes two pages at the front that identify the twelve main characters and a brief story summary. There's also a fourteen page glossary at the end.

I loved reading this manga and highly recommend it. I can't wait for the next volume, which is concerned with drink and is scheduled to come out this month.