Japanese Food: A Documentary Film Series

Join Professor Michael Raine, Film Studies for a series of award-winning documentary films – Japanese Food. Through beautiful images and heartwarming personal stories, this series traces the origins of food in Japan and how it is understood, from the medieval period to the present day. By tracing the development of characteristic foods we can understand how the Japanese culture relates to its natural environment and how some food preferences are still connected to its history and ecology. In Drops of Heaven we are introduced to Yoshiko TATSUMI's "Soup of Life" that is the basis of her teaching on natural food in Japan. Dashi & Shoyu uncovers the history of those most characteristic flavors in Japanese home cooking. Finally, The Birth of Sake shows us the dedicated workers in a small family brewery as they prepare a new batch of Japan's representative alcoholic drink. All films have English subtitles.