Wasabi

2022/02/08

Kenichiro Fukasawa

President of Matsumoto Mita-kai, 1962 Letters

In 1915, Hotaka Station was established on the JR Oito Line, and cargo flights facilitated exchange with Tokyo, opening up groundbreaking prospects for regional industry. Rain and snow falling in the foothills of the Northern Alps emerged in the plains, and focusing on the abundant, clear spring water at the end of the alluvial fan where the Sai and Takase Rivers flow, wasabi farms were established. A representative developer was Yuichi Fukasawa of the "Daio Wasabi Farm." He visited and persuaded the landowners of communal lands covering 300 households, working with the fury of a lion as if he were the reincarnation of the local legend "Hachimen Daio." He pulled up river gravel to create embankments on one side and "wasabi fields" on the other, conducting a business that covered both bank protection and wasabi cultivation, thus opening a path for the effective use of land unsuitable for farming. Furthermore, beautiful Azumino has two canals (segi) dating back to the Edo period that follow the contour lines. It is also an area filled with the scent of cultural and artistic romance, including the rural landscape and the Rokuzan Art Museum. Why not take a drive and stroll from Matsumoto to Azumino?

Hidenori Sasaki

Former Curator of Taro Okamoto Museum of Art, Kawasaki, 1986 Letters, 1989 MA Letters

Kanoko Okamoto's novel "Shokuma" (Food Demon) is modeled after Kitaoji Rosanjin. Kanoko's father-in-law, Katei, was Rosanjin's master in block-copy writing; her husband, the cartoonist Ippei, was a drinking companion of the same generation; and her son, the avant-garde artist Taro, was a target of his sharp tongue. It was a relationship spanning three generations. Rosanjin was active in calligraphy, food, and ceramics, and Kanoko sharply depicts his true image and essence.

In 1921, he opened the Bishoku Club in Kyobashi, and in 1925, the Hoshigaoka Saryo in Akasaka, mastering the way of taste. His ceramic work was based on the philosophy that "dishes are the clothes of cuisine." In 1951, he had Isamu Noguchi and his wife Yoshiko Yamaguchi live at Mukyo-an within his residence in Kita-Kamakura, and through Noguchi, Rosanjin's fame spread to the West. In 1954, at the Paris restaurant "Tour d'Argent," he ate a top-grade duck dish after adjusting the flavor with light soy sauce and wasabi he had brought with him, impressing the staff. I hear that Kaibara Yuzan from the manga "Oishinbo" is also modeled after Rosanjin.

In "Shokuma," characters speak about the protagonist's cooking: "I tell the master, this is much more your art." Taste was the essence of Rosanjin, and wasabi was likely the core of it.

Naoya Morishita

Representative of Tokyo Sushi-Making Tour, 2010 Economics

"Diversity" is often translated as "tayosei," but I interpret it as "respecting the happiness that one feels as they are." It means believing in the happiness you feel, even if it is unconventional or a minority view, and celebrating the happiness that the person next to you feels.

When I started my sushi classes for foreigners, I was surprised that the word "Wasabi" was understood by people from every country. Due to the global popularity of "Sushi," wasabi had eventually come to be eaten all over the world. However, the way wasabi is eaten seems to differ greatly by country.

In Japan, it is considered proper etiquette not to dissolve wasabi in soy sauce in order to enjoy the aroma, but in some countries, people eat sushi by dissolving a large amount of wasabi until the soy sauce becomes thick. When asked if it tastes good, they say it is the most delicious way to eat it. Some critics say such a way of eating is a breach of etiquette, but if the person is happy, isn't that fine?

Finding "differences" to be "interesting." That is likely the essence of "diversity."

Takeshi Sugai

Professor, Keio University Faculty of Pharmacy

The pungent component consists of a "wiggly" chain with one more carbon atom than the alcohol in liquor, bonded to a "sharp sting." It evaporates easily and hits the nose when taken into the mouth. The spiciness of chili peppers and black pepper contains a large "turtle shell" (benzene ring) structure, making it hard to evaporate and appealing to the sensation of heat. Wasabi and horseradish share the same "wiggly" and "sharp sting," but the pungency of their distant relative, the radish, is an "extra + wiggly" and "sharp sting," giving it a different taste.

The pungency of wasabi disappears quickly, but it can be trapped inside starch-derived, safe "Kagome-Kagome" (cyclodextrin) substances, allowing it to be enjoyed easily. Meanwhile, food preservation materials that gradually release the "wiggly" and "sharp sting" from a sheet to suppress the growth of bacteria have been put into practical use.

By the way, the tear-inducing component of onions, which are not closely related, actually has a similar structure. The final stage leading from "wiggly, no crying" to "wiggly, about to cry" to "wiggly, tears" was elucidated by Japanese researchers and won the 2013 Ig Nobel Prize (Chemistry). The peak season for wasabi is February. If you imagine wasabi in "sabi-nuki" (no wasabi) sushi with your nose, would the tears melt the snow and ice?