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KATSUO-BUSHI

Traditional Japanese cuisine “Washoku" was officially recognized as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage in 2013. However, the circumstances surrounding modern Japanese cuisine are undergoing drastic changes today. These ripples of changes are affecting the people who make and use “Katsuo-Bushi” Bonito flakes, the foundation of Japanese cuisine, and with this the taste of Japanese Cuisine is inevitably changing. Amidst the turning tides of the food culture, there are so many people investing their time and craft into bringing Katsuo-Bushi to the consumer’s tables. From the craftsmen who continue to take the traditional route of Katsuo-Bushi making, the Katsuo-Bushi graders who sort through the products everyday feeling the shift in its qualities, the fishermen who lament what little they can leave behind for the next generation, the chefs who create Michelin 2 star dishes bringing the Katsuo-Bushi directly to the consumers. Through the world’s tiniest Katsuo-Bushi manufacturer’s craftsmanship, and his efforts to conserve tradition whilst adapting to the changing surroundings, we explore the question of what is sustainable food culture.

 2015 / DCP /16:9 / 25min/ Japanese/ Japan 

Documentary

Director: Yu Nakajima

Producer: Mika Nishide
Editor: Yui Aoki
Cinematographer: Yu Nakajima, Koichi Takagi
Composer: ONE hundred MONT BLANC

YU NAKAJIMA, Director / Cinematographer

 

 Nakajima started film production in Tokyo. He was involved in TV and independent film projects, both in front of and behind the camera. He moved to New York in 2010, working in production at Fine Line Media Inc, a documentary production company. He was part of the production HERB & DOROTHY 50X50(Dir: Megumi Sasaki). The film made headlines as the most successful crowdsourcing film project ever in Japan, and kicked off a countrywide theatrical release in Spring 2013. In 2013, his film “Remind” was screened at the historical Anthology Film Archives NY as an official selection of NewFilmmakers. (The Anthology Film Archives, one of the leading theaters in New York City and the only theater truly dedicated to independent, underground and experimental film) Other works include cover different medias including many short and feature films, music videos, commercials, he was also a director for a documentary TV show shot for TV-Asahi in 2014. He has relocated to Berlin in 2015 and is now in pre-production for his new documentary

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