LONG-LIFE DESIGN FOOD INTERVIEW WITH D&DEPARTMENT’S AIMA YUKI

D&Department is a decades-long project founded by Nagoka Kenmei in 2002 and is known for its innovative focus on Long Life Design. D&Department’s activities include workshops, exhibitions, travel guides, events — and much more — all of which foster the development of close relationships with producers, growers, and local designers throughout Japan. I’ve been following the project for more than 10 years and each year become further inspired by the care and intentionality expressed through these wide-ranging projects. One of their most inspiring projects is Shokudo/食堂 — local food restaurants based in Tokyo and Kyoto.

In January 2024, D&Department published their first food-focused book entitled, Long Life Design Food (つづくをたべる食堂)。 Today, we have the honor of talking with the Project Director, and author of Long Life Design Food, Aima, Yuki (相馬夕輝) about this project and what inspired its creation.

To start, could you briefly introduce yourself and the project, as well as what led to writing Long Life Design Food?

Hi there, my name is Yuki Aima. Twelve years ago, in 2012, together with my cofounders I opened a base named “d47” (museum, store, shokudo) in Shibuya Hikarie to discover, edit, and disseminate long-life designs of each of the 47 prefectures. I wanted to create a restaurant that conveyed the attractive food culture of all the different prefectures and up until then I had not been actively involved in the field of food culture, but with the creation of d47 SHOKUDO, I became the director in charge and we have been promoting projects in this field ever since.

Japan’s food culture is truly diverse, and the more you know about it, the deeper it becomes. It is the result of the interweaving of various cultures, such as the local nature, history, industry, and customs. Among these, “local cuisine” can be said to be “gastronomy” in the original indigenous sense, rather than from a gastronomic perspective, and truly expresses the “characteristics of a region” and individuality. I’ve learned that.

Over the last 10 years, we have come into contact with the cultures of various places. I decided to work on publishing this book because I wanted to share what we learned there, what moved us, what we realized, and what we have applied to our own store, to the many people we will meet in the course of our future activities. Not only for our current staff, but also for future staff, and the local chefs and producers, we will meet in the future. I wrote this to convey what we value as we approach food culture.

At the same time, I wanted to convey that “local cuisine” is not something old or nostalgic, but something to enjoy and something that will continue to evolve, a culture that is geared toward the future. I hope that many people involved in food will know about it and get involved with the many great things we have had fun learning over the years.

Your book is so much more than a description of a manager’s approach to running a successful restaurant. D&Department’s relationship to food is quite deep and wide-ranging, and it feels like a creative act, perhaps more like an art practice. You talk about this quite a bit in the book, but could you share a little about how D&Department’s Shokudo aren’t typical restaurants?

Our restaurant has traveled to each of the 47 prefectures in Japan, worked with local producers, and people working to pass on local traditional foods, and even visited the homes of local mothers. Throughout our fieldwork we learned a lot about the lifestyle and customs of the region, we learned first-hand how to prepare dishes unique to the region (local cuisine), and then were able to cook the dishes. By actually visiting the site and experiencing it, we can convey the excitement. Everything in this restaurant is made by people we actually have a direct relationship with.

In addition, we compile the dishes we learn through those lessons based on the Japanese style of “Ichiju Sansai,” which combines rice, miso soup, and several side dishes in one set meal. We have set meals that will give you a sense of the local landscape, and the menu changes monthly with set meals from various prefectures.

The book in many ways is centered around teishoku/定食, the Japanese set meal served at your Shokudo. Our international readers might not be familiar with this concept. To me, it feels like Teishoku is a blank canvas for D&Department’s expression of local food. Would you agree? Or how might you summarize the potential of Teishoku and your broader interests related to food culture in Japan?

We recognize that the “set meal” method is a format for communicating. I think it’s similar to a course meal at a gastronomy restaurant, or even an album in music. On a truly blank canvas, we will serve an assortment of dishes that are connected to the local landscape. Because of the fixed format of set meals, I believe that even in this restricted world, you can strongly feel the charm and differences of a particular place.

When it comes to actually editing the menu, I envision various patterns for each set meal each time. What is most important is whether or not it reflects the individuality of the area the food is representing. And secondly, is it the season when the ingredients are actually available? Do you share the vision of continuing to support the people who produce these ingredients? There are many reasons for this, and we try to find combinations that are both realistic and charming. What we want to convey at this restaurant is that while deliciousness is very important, we also want customers to experience the joy of discovering the local culture, so we place great importance and ingenuity on dishes with charming stories and combinations.

I’d love to hear more about the creative potential of side dishes in Japanese meals. In many countries, there are typically only a couple of foods present in a meal. A Shokudo meal at D&Department includes many more. Could you share some of your favorite, or memorable Japanese side dishes that have been served at D&Department’s Shokudo?

There are many menus in the restaurant. Some people only eat set meals, while many others order multiple dishes from a la carte menu and enjoy the experience as if they were at an izakaya. We believe that customers should be free to make their own choices.

I have countless favorite menus, but let’s just pick out 5.

◯Yamagata/Imoni
Yamagata prefecture’s local cuisine. In our restaurant, we make imoni using Yamagata’s fixed variety of taro, “Jingoemon potato.” This is a variety of taro that has been passed down from generation to generation only by the producer’s family, Mr. Sato. It is sticky, has a great texture and taste, and is a menu that also supports the future continuation of the seeds of indigenous crops that have been inherited by these small farmers.

*please check out these links for more info
https://www.instagram.com/p/CzvqUfDhQFa/?img_index=1
https://www.d-department.com/item/DD_TEXT_REPORT_49358.html

◯Fukushima/frozen mochi
Winters in Fukushima Prefecture are extremely cold and there are areas with heavy snowfall, but mochi is made in areas with little snowfall by drying the mochi outside and repeatedly freezing and thawing it in the winter when the temperature drops below freezing. Shimimochi is a preserved version of this beloved treat that is dried. Wildflowers called “gonboppa” are mixed into mochi, which can be stored for decades if kept dry. By simply soaking them in water, grilling them, and eating them with perilla miso or soy sauce, you can create a snack like no other.

*please check out these links for more info
Frozen Mochi
D&Department’s Blog (in Japanese)

◯Okayama/Fried Oysters
In Okayama, there is a company called the Oku Fisheries Cooperative, which engages in sustainable oyster farming with a high level of environmental awareness, with an eye toward the sustainability of the marine ecosystem. The Seto Inland Sea has a warm and calm climate, and the sea retains nutrients from the mountains, making it suitable for oyster farming. Sustainable Seafood activities have been increasing in Japan in recent years, and together with Umito Partners, which supports such producers in various regions, we continue to support fishermen’s cooperatives that are working on oyster farming while protecting the ecosystem.

*please check out these links for more info
Okayama Oyster Teishoku
D&Department’s Blog (in Japanese)

◯Kochi/Inakazushi
When you think of sushi, you may think of vinegared rice and fresh fish, but this style is called Edomae sushi, and in fact, there are sushi from all over Japan called local sushi. Kochi’s country sushi does not use fish but instead uses ingredients from the mountains such as konnyaku, ginger, and shiitake mushrooms. The vinegar used in the rice is made with squeezed juice from citrus fruits such as yuzu instead of your typical rice vinegar. A charming sushi culture that can be called mountain sushi.

*please check out this link for more info
Inakazushi

◯ Nukazuke
“Nukazuke” is a classic Japanese pickle that uses the rice bran produced when rice is polished and pickled with salt and vegetables. It is a pearl of wisdom to preserve seasonal vegetables that are available in large quantities, but the reason why the taste tends to be different from household to household is due to the difference in the bacteria living in the house and the bacteria on the hands that mix the rice bran pickles. This menu can be said to be the origin of the taste of home cooking. At our restaurant, we have continued to mix and grow rice bran pickles every day for 12 years since we opened. It’s not just the taste of home, it’s the taste of our restaurant.

*please check out this link for more info
Short Nukazuke Making Video

Through reading Long Life Design Food, it’s clear that the meals offered at D&Department’s Shokudo require a great deal of care and dedication to create. There is a very deep social mission, as well as an artistic one. Could you share a bit about what it means to change society through local food?

There is a perception that local cuisine is nostalgic and a thing of the past. Everyone finds it delicious, but there are aspects of it that are recognized as something to protect, and it can be said that it is an aspect of culture that the more we try to protect something, the more likely it is to disappear. We believe that local cuisine is wisdom for surviving in the region, and is the ingenuity of eating while adapting to changes in nature. We also feel that it should evolve in response to the global environment changes as they happen. We believe that it is an important culture.

Because we live in an age where we can obtain information from all over the world and know anything, this does not mean that the meaning and value of living in a particular region is unnecessary. In fact, if we could obtain information in the same way anywhere, It is possible to focus on the charm of living that can only be done in this area. Enjoy local food every day, feel the value of living in this area, and enjoy living while connecting with the world. I want to live my life feeling the possibility of that joy.

Local cuisine is a type of culture that allows you to fully experience the nature and culture of a region and allows you to deeply feel the charm of living in this region. Through local cuisine, I would like to convey the message that many people can connect to a society where they can feel the meaning of living in their respective places.

On page 71 of Long Life Design Food, the phrase, “to taste, drink and breathe a place” is shared as a goal of the food served at your Shokudo. This was a very beautiful and moving statement for me. What does it mean to you to taste, drink, and breathe a place?

I believe that the true power of local cuisine can be demonstrated only in the region. Local cuisine is not a recipe, but a culture, so we believe that the most natural and delicious food is to taste it locally. In an age where ingredients can be ordered from all over the world and recipes can be looked up on the internet, there is a lot of invisible information about the local cuisine that is eaten on the site while talking with the local people. Once you get a hint that makes you want to visit a particular place at our restaurant, we want you to go find it for yourself in its native area and remember it as a taste of the scenery that is unique to you.

Perhaps a good follow-up is another concept shared in the book around what it means to capture or try to fully represent a place through your meals, but to incite enough interest and curiosity that people eat a meal — and then want to go to the place itself to experience more. Have you heard that this happens often? Is this an ongoing intention of the Shokudo?

I think it’s always happening. Food, hot springs, and nature are the main reasons for travel to Japan, which shows that people have a high interest in the nation’s cuisine to begin with. In fact, when we organized several tours at D&DEPARTMENT, we received many applications from people who were interested in the culture and food of the area. It is clear that many of our customers are people who want to learn deeply and know more about local culture and have a continuous relationship with the areas.

Festivals have been held in various parts of Japan since ancient times. Many of these festivals were born as a way to keep the culture rooted in the region alive, and have been passed down along with the food eaten during the festival. The survival of festivals is now in doubt due to the declining birthrate and aging of the region, but some young people are planning new and modernized festivals such as Yamagata’s Imonikai and Tochigi’s Shimotsukare Festival, which move to preserve culture. Although the form of festivals may change, I hope that people will continue to visit the area as an opportunity to do so.

We believe that our restaurant has the mission of connecting these people. Above all, as I wrote earlier, I believe that the true meaning of something can be felt by experiencing it in a particular place.

It’s also clear that design, photography, research, and storytelling are central to your project. There’s a great deal of time and energy spent on collecting information, learning, and then also conveying this information to customers in visually compelling ways. The book, website, and documentation of farms and menus, have begun to serve as an archive of food culture in Japan. Could you share more about your thoughts on this and the role of graphic design in the process?

We are aware that our activities and projects contain the archival elements of food culture. Local cuisine is a culture that is disappearing at an alarming rate, so if someone in the future wants to know the recipe or the producer, we need to create an environment where they can reach out. We have kept recipes for all the dishes we have made so far, as well as photos from our visits to the regions where we obtained them.

I believe that “editing” has a very important role in this restaurant. The same goes for customer service, the menu structure, and the design of the menu book. When creating a menu, I believe that by also conveying the background of the menu, we can show that it is not just a delicious recipe, but a cultural cuisine, and that is why we do so. Design plays a very important role when it comes to expression. In both editing and design, we place importance on properly conveying the individuality and uniqueness of each item, rather than over-the-top designs that create excessive excitement.

In the United States, “Indigenous Food” would be food that people began eating in North America many centuries, or even millennia ago. In Long Life Design Food, the word 土着的 (which translates as Indigenous Food) occurs many times. What does Indigenous food mean to you in this context — and as you understand it to mean in Japan more broadly today?

In Japan, the Ainu people of Hokkaido are the indigenous people. Historically, the Yamato people from Honshu developed Hokkaido, and the Ainu culture declined. This may be a history similar to that of indigenous people in North America. Also, Okinawa was originally a separate country called “Ryukyu Kingdom.” Although it is now a prefecture in Japan, in the past the culture was very different. For example, it is said that four-legged animals were prohibited from being eaten in Japan in those days, but in Okinawa, they ate pork.

I am using the expression “indigenous” not in the sense of indigenous peoples in this book, but rather in the sense of a culture that is strongly tied to the land. I apologize for the expression being difficult to understand because I did not use it with an indigenous mindset in mind.

It’s widely known that seafood is extremely popular, and central, to the Japanese diet. You talk extensively about sustainability initiatives related to seafood in Long Life Design Food. What are some key concepts that readers can keep in mind (to make better choices) while enjoying seafood in Japan?

It is not easy to identify and purchase fish that are sustainable in Japan. It can be said that awareness of sustainable fishing practices is not that high in the Japanese distribution field.

Because Japan is surrounded by the ocean, and warm and cold currents intersect, there are many fish species, and coastal areas have an abundance of seaweed, making every region rich in marine products. However, due to fishing without limits on catches, changes in habitat because of global warming, and construction of river banks and dams, the amount of fish caught has decreased even though stable flood control and stable food supply have been achieved. It can be said that the seaweed environment has the greatest impact. Over time, this is slowly changing the Japanese food culture.

In Japan, the quality of fish has been highly valued mainly for its freshness and the quality of the craftsmanship. I think it will still take some time to realize the value in terms of sustainability. We started this kind of activity because we wanted to start doing it even if just a little bit and let as many people as possible know about the sustainable perspective of choosing fish. Of course, I think there will be a high demand for food that is sustainable, fresh, and delicious. We will continue to engage in grassroots activities while communicating with organizations that raise awareness of sustainable seafood and fishermen.

Finally, could you share more about the emphasis placed on staff collaboration and input, and how this informs the Shokudo experience? It seems the company prefers for most staff to come from fields outside of the restaurant industry, or at least are unfamiliar with it. In this way, the social structure of the Shokudo workplace seems very creative and collaborative. For example, I loved reading about how sometimes staff recognize who made the pickles based on the flavor.

For our staff to actually see, hear, taste, and have a direct relationship with producers is not only a matter of this job but also an important encounter in the staff’s life. In our work, individual strength is extremely important. The ability to empathize, be creative in conveying your message, and continue making food every day are all very creative jobs. We have created connections with many producers throughout Japan, and I believe this will have a great impact on the future lives of the workers.

However, at the same time, the restaurant industry requires hard work at all times. It is because of the hard work involved in the food and beverage industry that we are able to maintain quality, and that is why producers place their trust in us. In other words, they are back to back and both are necessary.

Through this experience at d47 Shokudo, our staff will learn about the charm of the region, and develop the ability to create a vision and concept that resonates with producers while learning about high-quality work through the repetition of daily cooking and service. I think this is a time for the staff to train their human skills. I believe that a restaurant is a place where the humanity of the person working is ultimately tested. I feel that an individual’s interpersonal skills develop through daily work and through encounters that expand their values through travel, so I think it’s very important to experience a lot of input. Although it is still in its early stages of development…

It’s fun to end with a question about favorite meals or foods. Do you have a memory of a Teishoku meal that still leaves an impression, or is there a menu coming up that feels particularly inspiring?

I would like to share about the set meals that left an impression on me.

The Yamagata set meal and the Shiga set meal are the set meals that still leave an impression on me.

Yamagata Teishoku’s impressiveness came from the young producers of imoni, Shonai persimmons, and other traditional varieties. I was especially impressed by the time I learned from those people that making set meals is about creating meals that convey the local nature, and it allowed me to understand what it means to represent the local culture. The teishoku has become a very attractive set meal that is rich in color and deliciousness that everyone can enjoy, and it helped us understand that Japan is a country with abundant resources.

Shiga Teishoku is a set meal from my birthplace. Local dishes such as simmered Bodara (cod), simmered red konjac, pickled Hinona (a type of turnip native to Gamon-gun Hino Town), and square fu (wheat gluten) with mustard have been included. All the dishes are my mother’s cooking that I was born and raised eating. During the trip for an interview with local producers, the staff members actually tasted my mother’s cooking. I realized how much the everyday dishes that I had been eating without even knowing that they were local dishes expressed the individuality of the region, and this experience remains strong in my memory along with my gratitude to my mother.

I think my favorite meal by itself is the Japanese breakfast. White rice, miso soup, natto, seaweed, eggs, salted salmon, rice bran pickles, etc. are things that everyone can eat every day and continue to enjoy. It’s a classic among classics, but that’s why it’s one of my all-time favorite meals.

*please check these links for more info
Yamagata Teishoku Instagram
Shiga Teishoku Facebook

Anything you’d like to share with our readers about upcoming events, projects, or research?

Currently, “NIPPON UMAMI TOURISM – Umami food design that returns to the local nature, enjoying both vegetation and culture” is being held at d47 MUSEUM in Shibuya Hikarie until September 15th. After publishing the book, we planned to spread this as an exhibition as a methodology for conveying deliciousness including culture.

The word UMAMI discovered and created in Japan is now becoming widely known all over the world. While it is certainly important that it is a culture of devising combinations of umami elements such as glutamic acid and inosinic acid to enjoy delicious food, in that case, the light inevitably shines strongly on the gastronomic side. We would like to convey that UMAMI as a culture should be enjoyed with its background including many aspects other than ingredients, such as nature, human activities, and how it was born. We believe that tasting the various cultural backgrounds surrounding UMAMI represents the true deliciousness of local cuisine. I would like to see this exhibition grow into an exhibition that travels around the world.

I would like to continue to explore ways to learn and express not only Japanese but also other cultures around the world. We would like to expand this to not only North America and Europe, but also Asia and Africa, and work on conveying the charms of Japan while reiterating the charms of each region.

Thank you so much for your time today Aima. It has been a pleasure! The Shokudo in Kyoto is one of my favorite places in Japan. The last time I visited Kyoto I ate there so many times I started becoming friends with the staff. Everyone was so welcoming. I was moved by the hospitality and genuine care expressed by everyone there and the dedication to food culture. Thank you for your work! I look forward to visiting again soon and wish you all the best with Long Life Design Food.

Check out D&Department on these sites!

Long Life Design Food book

Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/d47_shokudo/?hl=en
https://www.instagram.com/d_department/

Upcoming Exhibition: NIPPON UMAMI TOURISM

Featured Photo: D&Department

If you’d like to try some of Japan’s regional specialties for yourself, then feel free to join our Flavors of Japan food tour.