The 2 Best Japan Eats! Podcast Episodes
1) A Film for Ramen Lovers: Come Back Anytime
Our guests today are John Daschbach, the director of the fantastic new documentary film Come Back Anytime, and Wataru Yamamoto, the producer of the film. Our mutual friend Yukari Sakamoto, who is an...Show More
2) Episode 40: Discover Sake!
This week on Japan Eats, Akiko is joined by sake expert Chizuko Niikawa-Helton. Ms. Niikawa, grew up on the Temple grounds of the Zen Buddhist Temple Gihozan Hosho Ji, located in the finest Rice an...Show More
3) Discovering Real Japan: The Oldest Izakaya, Fermentation Lab And Singing With Japanese Bluegrass Musicians
Our guest is George Padilla who plays a key role in multiple exciting Japanese restaurant and hospitality businesses in New York, including Rule of Thirds (https://www.thirdsbk.com/), Bin Bin Sake (ht...Show More
4) Konbini Culture: Unwrapping Japan’s Unique Convenience Stores
Our guest is Gavin Whitelaw https://rijs.fas.harvard.edu/gavin-h-whitelaw who is the Executive Director of Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University. Gavin has spent...Show More
5) Discover America’s Largest Japanese Whisky Collection at Teruko
Our guest is Brian Evans who is the Director of Bars at Sunday Hospitality Group https://www.sundayhg.com/, which operates 12 popular hospitality concepts in New York and London, including Japanese-in...Show More
6) Chef Tadashi Ono: Serving The Essence of Japanese Cuisine For Three Decades
Our guest is Tadashi Ono who is the executive chef at Teruko https://hotelchelsea.com/dining-and-bar/teruko at The Hotel Chelsea in New York. Tadashi's career has been built through deliberate de...Show More
Chef Tadashi Ono: Serving The Essence of Japanese Cuisine For Three Decades
37:41 | Nov 20th, 2025
7) An American Winemaker's 35-Year Journey Helping To Shape Japanese Wine Culture
Our guest is Bruce Gutlove, who is an American-born winemaker based in Hokkaido, Japan. The Japanese wine industry has been flourishing, particularly in the last two decades or so, thanks to the r...Show More
An American Winemaker's 35-Year Journey Helping To Shape Japanese Wine Culture
1:09:29 | Nov 13th, 2025
8) What Makes a Michelin Star Sushi Restaurant?
Our guest is Cheng Lin who is the chef/owner of Shota Omakase https://shotaomakase.com/ in Brooklyn, New York. After nearly three decades of studying and serving sushi at notable restaurants in New Y...Show More
9) Teaching Kids How To Cook And Eat Healthy Food (With Fun!)
Our guests are Mayumi Uejima-Carr and Debra Samuels. Mayumi is the President of TABLE FOR TWO USA https://usa.tablefor2.org/ and Debra leads the program content and curriculum development of TABLE FOR...Show More
10) A Humane Catch: How Ikejime Benefits Fish, Flavor And The Planet
Our guest is Andrew Tsui who is the founder and president of The Ike Jime Federation https://ikejimefederation.com/ based in Maryland. Ikejime is a unique, traditional Japanese technique to treat...Show More