｜Length : 26min. ｜Year : 2012 ｜

The Great East Japan Earthquake struck in March 2011 and was soon followed by a nuclear accident. Fears of radioactive contamination now mean people are very worried about food safety.
Under these circumstances, the famous Japanese food expert and researcher Yoshiko Tatsumi has a warning for us.
In her writings, Tatsumi asks a simple question: "Would you serve your children and grandchildren contaminated seafood and tell them to eat up?"
Tatsumi has some recipes and a message she wants to leave for future generations.
This program looks at the recipes Tatsumi uses in daily life and in her cooking classes.
She holds cooking classes once a month at her home in Kamakura. These are so popular that they are booked out three years in advance.
"Don't take anything for granted and always put your heart into everything you do." This philosophy, taught to her by her mother, shapes Tatsumi's approach to cooking.
When her father was bedridden with illness, Tatsumi prepared many kinds of soup for him over an 8-year period. These delicious and nutritious soups are now known collectively as "the soup of life." They provide comfort for all kinds of people, from the young to the elderly or ill.
The program introduces 3 dishes from Tatsumi's cooking class: clam soup, asparagus potage soup, and dashi stock made from kelp and bonito flakes.
We can see Tatsumi teaching with the ease and humor of a mother instructing her daughters. This is why she is loved do much by her students.

｜Length : 26min. ｜Year : 2012 ｜

Deep in the snowy mountains of Japan lies Eihei-ji, the main temple of Soto Zen Buddhism.
The temple dates back nearly 770 years ago, when it was founded by Dogen Zenji as a place for ascetic training.
Around 200 monks from all over Japan engage in rigorous training at the temple.
Zen meditation and sutra chanting play an essential role. As Dogen instructed, though, cooking and eating are also part of training.
This teaching is handed down by the tenzo, the priest who takes care of all the cooking at Eihei-ji.
Despite his important position, the current tenzo Ryokyu Miyoshi still cooks in the kitchen with the trainee monks.
The camera follows tenzo Miyoshi as he prepares food at Eihei-ji.
Dogen Zenji wrote down his instructions and teachings about cooking in the tenzo kyokun, or "Book of creeds."
For example, Dogen insists all ingredients are living things, so even a single grain of rice must not be wasted.
In accordance with this, the monks at Eihei-ji try hard not to waste food, with the skin and seeds of vegetables, for instance, being reused to make soup stock.

The food is prepared from the heart with the eater in mind.
Tenzo Miyoshi believes society benefits when food is treated with more care.
This is the essence of Dogen Zenji's teachings, a lesson that continues to be passed on down through the ages.

｜Length : 46min. ｜Year : 2013 ｜

Two adults enroll for a day at a nursery school in Otaru City, Hokkaido.
Education critic Naoki Ogi, also known as Ogi Mama, has become a familiar face on Japanese television, loved for his gentle tone of speech. The main character of the popular TV school-drama series "Kinpachi Sensei" is based on Ogi Mama, as he was once a passionate teacher who always confronted his students.
Partnering Ogi Mama is Naoki Tanaka of the popular comedy group Kokoriko. As a father who is very involved in raising his two sons, Tanaka always walks his kids to kindergarten when he can.
The two Naokis visit NPO Kamome (Seagull) Nursery School in Otaru City.
The biggest feature of the nursery school is its unique dietary education, which aims to nurture the pupils both physically and emotionally. What do the pupils there have for lunch, or for snacks? And how are kids raised on this dietary education different from those who are not?
At this nursery school, sardines that have been cut up and fried in the school kitchen are served, and they come with the bones too! Nowadays in Japan, many food products are advertised as being delicious on the grounds that they are "very soft", but at this nursery school, "softness" is anything but the priority! The motto here is to chew hard foods thoroughly, for chewing well is not only important for the development of the jaw and the body in general, but is also of the utmost importance for a child to develop a sound mind. There are experts who say that kids who chew well do not "lose control".
Right after arriving, the two Naokis tag along the kids to go pick Yomogi buds, for on this day, the snack is Yomogi rice cake, which features the rich aroma of spring!
Meanwhile, at the nursery school kitchen, fried fish using herrings—which are in season—is being prepared. Chopped up Fuki leaves are mixed in the breading that is used for the fried fish. Also on the menu is a stew of Shiitake mushrooms—which the kids grew themselves—with some pickled radish.
Seagull Nursery School emphasizes the importance of being local and eating local food. In summer, the kids heap up mulberry jam on home-made bread; during fall, the season of harvest, the class of five-year-olds makes Soba noodles, tofu, curry with rice, and even pickled herring, all from scratch! By cooking for the younger kids, the class learns the true value of words like "it is delicious!" and "thank you!"
During summer, the kids leave their usual school grounds to spend two summer months at their school building by the beach (called "Seagull by the Sea"). There, the kids spend all day swimming in the sea and running on the sandy beach. Come winter, the nursery school borrows a hut on a mountain from a university mountaineering club. There, the kids sled and play in the snow all day long.
The kids sew their own dust cloth; they braid their own jump rope.
The education offered here is one that develops the kids' strength to live vigorously.
"I ate something I had thought I didn't like, but when I did, it tasted so good!"
"I chewed some hard food really well, and then its taste spread in my mouth!"
"I did it!" "There's nothing you can't do if you work hard for it!"
The pupils infinitely broaden their possibilities through the dietary education offered here.
What is dietary education?
You might discover that the answer to that question has more to it than you think! Watch this program and find out!

｜Length : 23min ｜Year : 2015 ｜

Revel in the exquisite scenery. Engage in striking conversations with the locals. And indulge in the cuisine created from the offerings of the abundant nature.... This program takes you on a journey for local cuisine of Kitami in Hokkaido.
Embarking on the adventure is Hokkaido-based picture book author SORA. At the end of the trip, SORA creates a scrapbook using her own photos and drawings to reflect on her discoveries and thoughts.
Join SORA on her trip around Hokkaido and immerse yourself in the beautiful scenery of the land.

｜Length : 47 ｜Year : 2017 ｜

In the town of Oketo in Hokkaido, Japan, population 3,000, there exists a delicious school lunch. The person behind it all is Tomi Sasaki, a registered dietitian who wishes to teach proper eating habits to children. Over her career of nearly 40 years, Tomi has gone above and beyond the average school lunch director. She visits local producers to select ingredients herself and even ventures out into the woods to harvest fresh vegetables. Some items on her menu include fish served without the bones removed and authentic curry that even an adult would find spicy. Her unyielding passion to have children try a variety of foods is what drives her to create school lunch from scratch using local ingredients.
Tomi, now almost 60, is nearing retirement. As we follow Tomi’s final days leading up to her retirement, we discover the essence of eating, a necessity shared by all people.