It's Lunchtime
Japan Hour
Sub Navigation
- The Great Escapade: Homebound
- On Common Ground
- Seeing Is Believing
- Climate Change: A Wicked Problem
- The Hidden Layer: Healthcare Trailblazers
- Dream Spaces
- Undercover Asia S8
- Manufacturing Ignorance
- Singapore Budget 2021
- In The Age Of AI
- Climate For Change
- Believe
- Remember Our House
- Singapore Green Plan 2030
- There's Something About Orchard
- Singapore Perspectives 2021: Dialogue with Minister of Education Lawrence Wong
- Inside The Probation Service
- Work.Able
- Once Upon A River
- Greening The 'Net
- Remarkable Living 3
- Contact Tracers
- Game Nation
- The Great Escapade
- Ahead Of Their Time
- When Titans Clash
- From Crisis To Catalyst
- Becoming Human Again
- The Pandemic: One Year On
- A Deadly Ascent
- Strangers In My Head
- Into The Vault 2
- Business Unusual
- Beyond the Viral Video
- Wild City: River World
- Disease Hunters
- Wizards Of Tech
- Feeding A City
- Undercover Asia S3
- 23
- Belly Of A Nation 2
- For Food's Sake! 3
- Forgotten Heroes
- Kampong Konkrit
- Rising To The Challenge
- Grounded
- The Longest Day
- Survival: Developing Countries On The Frontline
- Artists Unstaged
- Corridor of Hope
- Deciphering Japan
- The Family Affair S5
- Singapore Votes 2020: The Political Debate
- In Conversation Special
- Coronavirus Pandemic
- GRIT
- National Broadcast
- Why It Matters 4
- Faith Over Fear
- Outbreak Onboard
- Slumfood Millionaire
- #COVID19: The Social Media Pandemic
- CNA Correspondent
- One Of Us
- The Mark Of Empire
- Courage
- Race Against Pandemic
- A Frame In Time
- Carbon Conundrum
- Secret Wars
- Chasing Scarcity
- Undercover Asia S7
- Stronger: The Battle Against COVID-19
- Gadg(AID)
- Food In Our Time
- Tycoons China
- Inside The Child Protective Service
- Politics Of Climate Change
- The Singapore Perspectives Conference
- Borderlands
- In Our Time
- The Next Wave
- One Day That Changed Asia
- The Year Ahead 2020
- Migrants' Diary
- Ships That Shaped Us
- We Are Gen Z
- Crime Science
- Majulah: Symbols For Singapore
- A Billion Chinese Dreams
- CyberPunk'D
- Remarkable Living S2
- China's Growing Appetite
- In Search Of The Frog Boys
- Venturepreneurs
- The Skin We Wear
- The Millennial Investor
- Show Me The City
- Jewel: After Hours
- The Islands That Made Us
- Rishi & Sharul Try…
- Why It Matters 3
- Regardless Of Generation
- The Singapore Bicentennial Conference
- The Negotiators
- Secret Delicious
- Fighting Foreign Interference
- Hawkers In Our Centre
- HT MintAsia Leadership Summit 2019
- Coded World
- For Food's Sake! 2
- The Big Boss: A 21st Century Criminal
- Belly Of A Nation
- #DontForgetMe
- #HuntingHistory
- #Wanderlust
- Aarushi – Beyond Reasonable Doubt
- Across ASEAN
- Aerial Asia
- A Big Little Murder
- Against The Elements
- Age Of Innovation
- Algorithms
- An Astronomical Journey
- Astropreneurs: To The Stars & Beyond
- ASEAN’s Next Generation Leaders (ANGeLs)
- ASEAN Spotlight
- Asia First
- Asia First Encore
- Asian Century
- Asia in the Great War
- Back to School
- Becoming Human
- Becoming Singapore
- Bridging Giants
- Blueprint For Survival
- Bronze: A Forgotten Treasure
- Butterfly Children
- Challenge Tomorrow
- Champions For Change
- Check In
- City DNA
- City of Opportunities
- China on Film
- CNA Leadership Summit: Navigating a Post-Pandemic World
- Coming Clean About Green
- Conversation With S14
- Cool Living in an Eco-city
- Correspondents' Diary
- Cram Course Asia
- Days in Pyongyang
- Days Of Rage
- Days Of Disaster
- Deciphering Indonesia
- Deciphering The Philippines
- Destiny of a Maritime Nation
- Don't Make Us Invisible
- Electric Dream
- Edible Wild 2
- Edge of Space
- Enemy Within
- Every Woman
- Facing Dementia
- Facing Depression
- Fake News
- Finding Singapore
- Fighting Fake News
- Fighting Falsehoods
- Facing Terror
- Food Heroes
- For The King
- Forums
- Futuropolis
- Gangnam Insider's Picks!
- Get Real S17
- Going Places
- Going Underground
- How To Raise A Super Baby
- In Conversation
- Into The Vault
- India on Film
- Inside the Storm 4
- Indonesia’s Game Changers
- Inside The Children's ICU
- Inside Our Factories
- Insight
- Inside The Cryptokingdom
- In Search of Umami
- In Pursuit of Magic
- I Remember The Fall Of Singapore
- Johor: A New State of Affairs
- Japan Hour
- Just Like You
- Kashmir: A War of Stones
- Land Unlimited
- Law of the Land
- Love in A Time of Change
- Life Lines
- Luxe Asia S5: The Ultimate Access
- Made in Singapore
- Market Insights
- Maverick Politicians
- Money Mind
- National Service - The Beginning
- National Service - The Transformation
- Neighbours: Singapore-Malaysia Relations
- Nepal's Child Brides
- The New Silk Road
- Once a Refugee
- On The Red Dot
- Our Tiny Superheroes
- Palu: A Month After
- Perspectives
- Parliament Specials
- Asia Tonight
- Power And Piety
- Powering the Future
- Power List Asia
- Raffles Revealed
- Raffles: An Icon Reborn
- Real Deal
- Rebellion In Marawi
- Refugee Chef
- Regardless of Class
- Regardless of Race
- Regardless of Religion
- Roar!
- Savouring The Future
- Slackers, Shockers, Suits and Superheroes
- Singapore Food Stories
- Singapore Reimagined
- Singapore Mosaic
- Game Changers Singapore
- Singapore Tonight
- Singapore on Film
- Singapore After Dark
- Smart Cities 2.0
- Specials
- Super Octogenarians
- Start-UP S6
- Talking Point
- Taking Singapore Forward
- Tapestry: The Heart of ASEAN
- The ASEAN I Know
- The Big Questions
- The Dark Web
- The Family Affair S4
- The Great Migration
- The Last Rites
- The Past Beneath Us
- The Successors
- The Terror Trail
- The Truth About Fake News
- This is What I Hear
- The Traitor Within
- This Weekend
- This Side of The Border
- Tipping Point
- To Live
- Transformation For A New Normal
- Trash Trail
- Undercover Asia S6
- Unusual Suspects
- Vanishing Foods
- Vice & Virtue: 1800s Singapore
- Walk This Way
- When We Play
- Wild City: Forest Life
- Wild City: Secret World
- Whiter Shade of Terror
- Why It Matters 1
- Why It Matters 2
- Work Is A 4-Letter Word
- Don't Call Us Poor
- Don't Call Us Beaten
Bookmark
Japan Hour:
It's Lunchtime
Join us as we visit various cities to find out what the locals eat. Our first stop is Shimonita, Gunma Prefecture. It is well known for its leeks so we speak to some leek farmers at the market. One of them has been growing Shimonita leeks for 40 years, while another has been farming for 60 years. We then go to a roadside station, which opened in 2003. Besides fresh Shimonita leeks, it also sells a variety of products made with the leeks. They include various seasonings, such as one made of leeks, soy sauce and garlic. There are also rice seasonings, leek miso and curry.
We meet Minako Nakano, who came all the way from Kumagaya, Saitama Prefecture to buy the famous leeks. She is going to have lunch and agrees to let us accompany her. We go to Restaurant Orange at the roadside station. We order buckwheat noodles with dipping sauce and salt-flavoured ramen with lots of stir-fried Shimonita leeks. The buckwheat noodles are stir-fried with thick slices of leek and local pork and cooked in a bonito-based soup stock. The dipping sauce also has a great aroma of leeks.
We then head to the main street in front of Shimonita Station and drop by Ebisuya, a local tea shop which opened more than 70 years ago. It sells its original tea made with Shimonita leeks and other products made with dried leeks. It also produces and sells various seasonings, such as one made from Shimonita leeks mixed with chilli peppers and other spices. The owner is unable to show us his dinner so he introduces us to Susumu Morikawa, who owns a liquor store. We walk over to Morikawa's Liquor Store, which was established in 1901. It sells various kinds of local sake from Gunma, including the award-winning Seitoku Meijo.
Mr Morikawa and his wife, Emiko, live behind the store. She prepares Shimonita leek sukiyaki, leek tempura, and konnyaku noodles with pork and leek. The sukiyaki includes huge log-grown shiitake mushrooms called Super Jumbo. The sukiyaki sauce is made with mirin and soy sauce. We also get to try the speciality local sake, Seitoku, which is popular among the locals.
Our next stop is the Odawara fish market in Kanagawa Prefecture. We visit the market at 4.30am and see an auction going on. On this particular day, 10 tonnes of seafood are sold off, including more than two tonnes of mackerel and red sea bream. Other types of seafood sold at the auction are red cornetfish, mahi-mahi - a large fish also known as rainbow fish - striped bonito, red gurnard, thread-sail filefish, flounder and tilefish.
We speak to Mr Tanaka, who owns a fish shop called Marumoto in Isehara City. Marumoto has been in business for generations. The family first ran a retail store in Atami City, Shizuoka Prefecture. Mr Tanaka moved the store to Isehara City in 1990. He goes to the Odawara fish market every morning to get fresh seafood caught in Sagami Bay. He then sells them to various stores and restaurants.
We meet some of the employees of Marumoto, including Katsumi Ikemoto, who is affectionally called Kacchan. He is in charge of filleting the fish. We are also introduced to Takaya Iino. Known as Master, he owns a jazz bar nearby. More than three years ago, he started working at the store when he is free during the day. For lunch, Mr Tanaka prepares a luxurious fish rice bowl for his staff. It includes horse mackerel, tuna and flounder. He also makes sunfish liver, sunfish simmered in sweet and spicy soy sauce, and boiled sunfish served with miso mustard.
Tips:
1) Leeks are famous in Shimonita and are used in various dishes, including seasonings
2) Auctions at fish markets are a good way to find out the types of seafood available in that area