The Essence of Japan: Naomi Eguchi's Story from Soccer to Sake (Part 1)

Friday evenings you will find Naomi cooking up Japanese small plates and pouring sake for friends around her kitchen island.  The conversation goes something like this...

In this episode of 'In My Kitchen with Paula', Paula interviews Naomi Eguchi, an original In My Kitchen Host and a talent both in the kitchen and on the soccer field. Naomi, originally from Kobe, Japan, and now running a successful business in Vancouver, shares insights into her upbringing, Japanese home cooking, and the diverse food scene across Japan's regions. 

These are just a few of the topics Paula covers:

• A Deep Dive into Japanese Cuisine with Naomi
• Naomi's Multicultural Background and Its Influence
• Exploring Traditional Japanese Home Cooking
• Japanese School Lunches
• Sharing a Special Recipe: Chicken Tsukune
• Travel Tips and Cultural Insights for Japan
  
  

HELPFUL LINKS

• Get my free Travel Planning Tool 
• Try this Chicken Tsukune Recipe
• Check out Electric Geisha 
• Explore Kyuoshoku - The Making of a Japanese School Lunch

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In My Kitchen creates connections one dish, one story, one journey at a time, by exploring culture through food.  We do this through unique culinary workshops, speaking engagements, and of course, this podcast.

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Transcript

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Paula Mohammed: [00:00:00] In this episode, I am lucky enough to interview. Naomi. Eguchi a talented home cook, a talented soccer player and one of the original in my kitchen hosts. I chat to Naomi about her Japanese upbringing and influences on her cooking. We discussed Japanese homestyle, cooking school lunches, regional specialties, and traditional practices, like the tea ceremony and geisha culture. Naomi shares insights on traveling in Japan, food etiquette, and the uniqueness of different regions. 

We talk about so much and having just been to Japan. After doing this interview with Naomi, I can tell you that if you're planning a trip to Japan. if you've ever been to Japan, if you're curious about a Japan, this is an episode that you do not want to miss.

Hi, I'm Paula Mohamed and welcome to In My Kitchen with Paula. This podcast is a gathering place for culinary adventures who love to travel. Every week, we'll come together with chefs, cookbook authors, talented home cooks, and everyone in between to talk about their [00:01:00] story and their unique dish. Using food as the vehicle, we'll take a ride into the ins and outs of their culture and country.

Come on, let's get this party started.

I love doing this interview with Naomi Naomi, Eguchi was one of the original in my kitchen hosts and Japanese cuisine has always been a favorite of mine. As many of, you know, who've been listening and following In My Kitchen, you know, the Japanese culture was quite, relevant in my childhood and growing up and, and still is, but I actually never, ever made it to Japan. Well, a couple of weeks after doing this interview with Naomi, I did finally make my first trip to Japan. And I went for two weeks and just recently got back and I was traveling with my 17 year old son. 

It was a trip I will never forget. And it definitely won't be my last trip to Japan. So doing this interview with Naomi was fantastic because I could ask her everything I wanted to know about what to plan for and what to look [00:02:00] for in my trip. Japan is such an interesting country. In a previous episode, I do go into more detail about my trip and my itinerary and some of the highlights for me. But I have to say the best part of my trip to Japan was actually discovering these experiences. And I do encourage you to. To do the same if you can, but I am happy to share any more details. Or more about my itinerary, just feel free to email me and I'm happy to share that info 

so without further ado, let's just get right into it.

Konnichiwa, Naomi. It's so good to have you on the show.

Naomi Eguchi: Thanks, Paula. I'm really excited to be here as well.

Paula Mohammed: It's pretty exciting and special for me to introduce Naomi to our podcast listeners. Naomi was one of our original In My Kitchen hosts. That was about five years ago now, and was then away for the last [00:03:00] three years and was recently come back. We'll chat more about that. Later. Naomi is actually originally from Kobe, Japan, is a very talented home cook with a passion for exploring flavors and healthy cooking.

Naomi is also a very talented soccer player and has her own successful business in Vancouver, Canada called Realign First, which is a practice that focuses on joint alignment and movement optimization, helping people move and play their sport pain free, which Me being in my 50s, I'm definitely grateful for and benefiting from.

Naomi, I think before we dive into talking about Japan, it would be helpful for our listeners to get to know you a little bit more because it's your perspective that we're going to be delving into. , if you could just share this a little bit about your background, , and your family and your upbringing, that would be great.

Naomi Eguchi: For sure. Yeah, so I was born in Japan, raised in Japan [00:04:00] for the first 18 years of my life. My father's Japanese. My mother is Jewish Canadian, actually. And I was born in Kyoto. As Paula mentioned, I spent most of my, actually, childhood in Kobe. So I moved to Kobe when I was seven. So from grade two to grade 12, I was in Kobe.

My father is a cultural anthropologist, he speaks a million languages, but he ended up, um, focusing in African tribes, so he was basically away half of the year, I have two older sisters, Both, uh, born and raised in Japan, but ended up going to Canada for university and ended up staying there.

I was born a bit apart from them, so half of my childhood was spent with no siblings at home. Essentially I ended up Going to university in Canada as well. I am now living [00:05:00] in Canada close to one of my sisters and my mother and Yeah, my dad passed away 14 years ago, unfortunately, but that's basically my family.

Paula Mohammed: I forgot, Naomi, that your father was a cultural anthropologist and studied, specialized in African tribes. I remember you telling me that years ago. Well, gosh, that's a whole other, podcast to delve into. But how did your parents meet then?

Naomi Eguchi: It was actually my mother that traveled to Japan. She was studying, I think Japanese language and culture in university. And part of that program, she spent like a summer Japan. Met my dad there.

Paula Mohammed: Oh, how interesting. And did you get to travel with him at any time when you were growing up?

Naomi Eguchi: Yes, so not as much as my sisters because I was so involved in sport, like soccer, so I could have missed much of my, practices once I became, you know, [00:06:00] teenager, , I did manage to squeeze in a couple trips, uh, to Europe and also, to his research, hometown in Cameroon. So, I went there right after I graduated from university and spent a whole four months living with the tribe, which was Amazing experience, at least to say.

audioPaulaMohammed21089725049 (1): What was it like, growing up as a school child in Japan?

Naomi Eguchi: It's interesting because a lot of the things I learn outside of my home are not, you know, completely aligned with my, like my family's values, my mother's values. It was, it was interesting. Outside of my home, you just learn to be normal, not stand out and, value the whole, like, harmony thing.

Don't cause a scene. And like, stand, [00:07:00] by standing out, I mean, like, good or bad. That was an interesting place to be because, I stand out because I'm like, I'm half foreign, and above that, like, it's my nature to be better, perform better, things like that, but, that was, that side of me was , suppressed throughout my school years, so,

Paula Mohammed: want to come back and chat to that a little bit more, later on. But first, just before we move away from your background. So your parents are from very different backgrounds. How did that influence the cooking in your home? 

Naomi Eguchi: Yeah, so, my mom moved to Ja well, like, married in her mid twenties, so very young. , and my dad is the first you know, son of the Japanese family. And he has two sisters and immediate, immediately after my mom, married him, she basically learned all the customs, all the cooking, you know, methodologies, , all the etiquette from my [00:08:00] dad's. sisters and also, , my grandmother, my dad's mom. She definitely had a challenging time, but that's where she, learned all the skills of Japanese cooking and also her neighbors, helped out a lot with just to be a housewife in Japan. Not that she didn't have any, career of her own, but like just how to be.

A Housewife in Japan.

Paula Mohammed: That sounds like the title of a book that somebody could write.

Naomi Eguchi: She actually, she actually translated the really interesting book called, Electric Geisha. This is, you know, totally off topic, I will definitely lend you a copy one day because it's really, really interesting to read.

Paula Mohammed: You know, I'll put it in the show notes too. What was it called again?

Naomi Eguchi: It's called the Electric Geisha,

It's an essay series of introducing the Japanese culture.

Paula Mohammed: Oh, I'd love to read that, Naomi.

Naomi Eguchi: It's an old book. It's from the 90s. She did it in the [00:09:00] 90s. But, I didn't read the whole thing, but I recently Just, learned that it wasn't a novel. I thought I, I always thought it was a novel, but actually it's a very, educational book of Japanese culture. So, , totally off topic, but yeah.

Paula Mohammed: I'm heading off to Japan, in a couple of weeks. It's been just amazing for me to, to chat with Naomi off and on and have the privilege to get your insight into our trip, which we'll share more here too.

Before we go any further, what is Japanese homestyle cooking like? Because it's very different, isn't it, than when we go out for Japanese food here in Vancouver, Canada.

Naomi Eguchi: First of all, a lot of the Japanese restaurants here are not owned by Japanese, , here when you say Japanese food, most people will think of, sushi, tempura, . And then there's like the izakaya styles where you share the small dishes, but those are all, you know, not part of the Japanese food.[00:10:00] 

Traditional home cooking. So when we say home cooking, we call it teishoku style, so you always have rice, you always have, a soup, usually miso soup, and then the main dish. Which is usually some sort of protein, and then, a vegetable dish, and, you know, then there is like the smaller dishes, which might be pickles, or, just some side dishes, but that is generally what you would see in a typical, , Japanese household, or, family cooking.

When you're cooking for yourself, it's totally, again, you don't need to prepare all these dishes, but when you're Talking home or like family style cooking. That's generally the structure or the framework, , 

Paula Mohammed: what would your school lunch look like? Would you be mom would make or you ate it at school?

Naomi Eguchi: A lot of schools have school lunches, but if they don't have school lunches, of course you have to take a lunch and [00:11:00] that's called the bento, right? Like bento is a mobile lunch or mobile meal. 

 Or we call it bento because we put O in front of everything. Style is, generally the same as home cooking. meals minus the soup. Right, so nowadays like people take soup in like thermoses but we weren't that fancy back in the day so it's generally half of it is rice and the rest is whatever you can put in it basically.

Paula Mohammed: And if the school was serving lunches, what would that look like? 

Naomi Eguchi: If the school is serving lunches, um, it's not, it usually is not in a bento box. They, make big pots of it for each class, and we take turns being the servers, and there's a plate for, there's, there's always [00:12:00] rice, or some days it's bread, but it's usually rice. And then there's the main protein dish, and then there's the veggie dish, which most of the times it's all mixed up, but there's like the rice, the bigger plate, and the smaller plate, and milk, surprisingly, uh, milk and rice.

Maybe a piece of fruit for some sort of very small dessert.

audioPaulaMohammed21089725049 (1): Very healthy compared to our North American

Naomi Eguchi: Yes, very healthy. There's a lot of like YouTube videos that introduce how, healthy or like how different Japanese school lunches are to North American lunches. Maybe I'll send you some of the links.

Paula Mohammed: That would be great to share in the show notes.

 The role of a grandmother in your Japanese household and Japanese cooking, is it similar to the Nona? Are they highly revered? Is there a role to pass down recipes and how to cook?[00:13:00] 

Naomi Eguchi: I think traditionally yes, but probably not as much these days. Yeah,

Paula Mohammed: Elders taking care of in Japan? Would they live with your household? I'm curious about how, because I, I, I wonder if that's changed. over the

Naomi Eguchi: so I think it's, it sort of follows the trend, you're living in urban areas, you're separated from your big family most of the times, and the more you live in the countryside, you're more together. I think that kind of tradition is passed along more in the countryside than, families that live in big cities or urban areas.

Paula Mohammed: How would you describe your style of cooking now? Um, and was it influenced by your upbringing?

Naomi Eguchi: Yeah, that's, that's, that's a good question. So my, my cooking is [00:14:00] highly influenced on, my needs as an athlete.

Paula Mohammed: Right.

Naomi Eguchi: That's sort of like when I'm cooking for myself, like that, that is part of what I value, like what my body needs. But when I'm cooking for others, it's, um, I still value the nutritional aspect of food.

Because I don't want to put, unhealthy things in my, my system as much as possible. When I cook for people, it's more for social reasons. I hate sacrificing the taste for health. That's number one. Especially when I'm in Canada, I try to incorporate, you know, Japanese either flavor or ingredients.

In My Cooking, just to make it nostalgic and more at home.

Paula Mohammed: Mm hmm.

Naomi Eguchi: Um, but yeah, that's the basis, I guess.

Paula Mohammed: I've been lucky enough to have, , a meal with Naomi [00:15:00] and it's a pretty awesome experience because you go to Naomi's live, work, studio space, and this big open kitchen island. And we stand around and Naomi used to make like, in my opinion, restaurant style dish after restaurant style dish. And you seem to kind of invent your own flavors and combinations, but it'll be a, would it be izakaya style, like small plates, small dishes?

And, uh, we sit and talk and drink beer and, and eat.

Naomi Eguchi: Yeah, so I wouldn't say it's just a izakaya style. I think it's just a way to share the experiences and it's more of like, whenever it's a social situation, this could be a family dinner as well, we share dishes and The more we share, the more dishes we get to taste. It's just a win for everyone, in my

Paula Mohammed: can you, can you tell us about the [00:16:00] dish that you're sharing the recipe for with our listeners?

Naomi Eguchi: , the chicken tofu patties it was one of my, heavy, heavy rotational protein source, when I was playing soccer. So it's like the easiest in terms of preparation and there's a million ways to combine the flavors and the toppings and it's just, I never got sick of it. So I, , decided to share that with you.

In My Kitchen experience and have all the toppings ready. They're all very Japanese toppings with various like you can choose your own combination. It was just like such a fun dish. That's that's basically why I love it so much.

Paula Mohammed: And that will be in the show notes as well. you can always ask us questions if you're making it and have any questions about ingredients. Is it typical? Like, so nobody else can see you right now, uh, except for me, Naomi is [00:17:00] a generation younger than I am, I would say. You're, you're significantly younger than myself.

 Is it typical for your generation to have this love and passion for cooking in Japan?

Naomi Eguchi: I think it totally depends.

Yeah, totally depends.

Paula Mohammed: not unlike everywhere else.

Naomi Eguchi: Yeah, eating out can be pretty cheap in Japan compared to , especially compared to Vancouver or Canada right now. A lot of people choose not to cook and that's totally fine because there's literally endless options to eat out, cheap and good food in Japan.

Paula Mohammed: Okay, that's a perfect segue into my next question, which is a little bit selfish, but I know my listeners are going to love this too. Being that I'm about to travel to Japan, can you touch on high level, you don't have to go too far, , into it, but high level overview of the food scene in Japan and how it differs from region to region?

So I'm thinking like Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka, further [00:18:00] south, does it differ quite a bit region to region?

Naomi Eguchi: Yeah, so Japan is big on their regional specialties. And that's it's so fun to travel throughout Japan, especially, along the coast. You get amazing seafood everywhere you go. Besides that, the biggest difference, I would say first of all, in Tokyo, that's like central, everything concentrates in Tokyo, but basically you need to, there's very high end stuff there, , high end chefs, but you're basically paying, you know, you're, you're, you get what you pay.

That's, that's just what Tokyo is, right? As opposed to that, Osaka. is where I spent most of my, adulthood, about 10 years. , Osaka was It's called the Kitchen of Japan, for a pretty long period, like in the Edo period. And that's because of the [00:19:00] ports and like it was a merchant's town and, um, everything congregated in Osaka, but in Osaka, value, if I was to describe one word, like food in Osaka, in one word, it's value.

Great value for price, first of all, and I'm not saying it's cheap because they're using cheap ingredients it's just great, like, they passion, they have the passion, and, that's the drive, that's the vibe of Osaka, present the value of food 

That's the biggest difference , so you don't have to pay ridiculous amounts of money to get, you know, amazing food in Osaka. That's why I love it. Yeah, the main difference with those two, you know, sort of big Japan Central. Kyoto is more traditional. [00:20:00] Kyoto is not surrounded by any, water, basically.

They have very traditional style. Cooking methods, and more reserved style, and, you can also experience, meals that they serve you, 20, 30 small dishes, but you can also experience that in Japanese style hotels, which is called ryokans. I'm pretty sure you're, you have a couple booked.

So they serve pretty extravagant dinners and meals as well. So you'll get a taste of what that looks like, I'm sure. 

Paula Mohammed: What about, Hiroshima? And can you touch on, I'm going to pronounce this wrong, but I'm, we're going to go have a meal of it. The Fujio, Fuji, Fuji fish?

Naomi Eguchi: fugu, fugu.

Paula Mohammed: Fugu.

Naomi Eguchi: I don't know if Hiroshima specializes in fugu, it is definitely, one of the more luxurious dinners, [00:21:00] considered luxurious in Japan because usually they have a huge tank of fugu fish in their restaurant, like that's pretty standard, and they, pretty much cook the fugu fish.

Like, they use every single part of, except for that poisonous part, of the fugu and serve you a wonderful course of it. I'm sure, that'll be a super amazing experience. 

Paula Mohammed: And just for people who may not be aware, the Fugu, it's a poisonous organ, I think, isn't it? In the fish.

Naomi Eguchi: so yeah.

Paula Mohammed: if you nick it, that could be the end of your trip. Rather quickly, as you mentioned, you're passionate about healthy cooking. I'm curious, would you say that, the Japanese, diet is healthy or do you modify it?

The reason why I ask there seems to be a lot of packaged items or quick, fast Food type items and packages. Is that [00:22:00] a false observation? What do you think?

Naomi Eguchi: Yeah, so, Japan is known for, like, overly packaging stuff. And they're trying to get better at it. They're trying to minimize packaging. So that's something that they're still working on.

Paula Mohammed: And what about in the condiments that are used a lot? And I think about mirin and,. The, like the seaweed flakes to flavor the rice. Food, food, food, food, food are coming. Yeah. you, 

Naomi Eguchi: Yeah. 

Paula Mohammed: those things a lot yourself?

Naomi Eguchi: For myself, I try to minimize Using sugar and so in Japanese cooking they actually do use a lot of sugar But because they don't eat each dish in large amounts it doesn't have much of a flavor impact in terms of like sugar intakes from a meal, right?

Like snacks are different, totally different story, but from a meal you're not getting the total sugar intake isn't, but as I [00:23:00] explained with the school lunches and the home cooking, that, that standard structure of what a meal should be and Growing up in Japan, like, everyone knows what a balanced meal is.

Everybody knows what a balanced meal is. As long as you're following that broad guideline, you can never go outside, deviate too much, if you're following that.

Paula Mohammed: And what you said was so key there. The moderation, everything in moderation. Yeah, I'm also fascinated with the etiquette around food and just living in Japan and that's probably we could talk a long time on that. Could you touch on a little bit of around the food etiquette and does that differ from region to region?

Naomi Eguchi: Yeah, so I don't think that, uh, differs that much region to region. The main, main value of the food etiquette part would be, I think the main thing is, [00:24:00] you say itadakimasu before we eat and gochisosamadeshita after we eat, so that basically is thanking, it's a, it's showing appreciation to who cooked the food and also the fact that you have food on the table at that time, and at the end You're saying thank you for the delicious meal, basically.

So we say that before every single meal. Some people would even say it if they're preparing food for themselves and eating it alone. Just as courtesy. Another thing, a big thing is Japanese people hate, wasting, so they're very sensitive, not just with food, but just very sensitive in, like, waste, wasting, things.

 You know, leaving food on a plate, I know in some cultures it's completely opposite, but, in general, if you can finish the food, it's better if you do, even if you're paying for it. And [00:25:00] also, if you don't want to touch the food for whatever reason, you should have a very good excuse for it, like you're allergic or something, because it, it could come across as, disrespectful or rude.

Paula Mohammed: My dad always would tell, come back and tell us the things that he ate and sometimes I would be there's no way I would have eaten that and I eat pretty much everything.

My dad was always like, no, no, no, Paula, you. You always eat what is served. And yeah, he, it was something similar to what you're saying, 

Naomi Eguchi: There's not very many things that you can go awfully wrong with Japanese cuisine. Off the top of my head, I can think of like natto, like the rotten beans that could be, good or bad, 

Paula Mohammed: What about, raw chicken? 

Naomi Eguchi: I eat it when I go back to Japan and you will, like, you should definitely try it when you go to Kyushu because they're, yeah,

Paula Mohammed: So tell me about what this raw [00:26:00] chicken dish, 

Naomi Eguchi: it's basically like, Sashimi grade chicken. So you don't buy chicken off the supermarket and eat it raw just like you wouldn't buy fish off, you know, a store expect to eat it raw. So it's just very fresh, chicken.

So you can try raw chicken, you can try raw beef, like wagyu, you can also try raw, um, horse meat if you're a very open person.

Paula Mohammed: Well, beef tartare. I love, I've had, smoked Italian style shredded, Horse meat, which was, I think it was like a jerky, really, if I'm eating that, why not try some raw chicken?

Naomi Eguchi: Yeah,

Paula Mohammed: Well, I'm at it. Curious, your generation, I'm picturing you in Osaka, you know, drinking beer and having small plates.

Would you all say before you ate this, the, the greeting, the, the, the thanks? Would you give thanks to the food in [00:27:00] those situations? I'm just wondering how prevalent it is in your generation as well.

Naomi Eguchi: It is. And when we're with friends, we might not say it all together, Sometimes when you're in like a class, like a school setting or when you're eating with your family, sometimes you say it all together like a prayer, but we just all say it in our own timing, just right before we start eating

Paula Mohammed: Like many of our listeners, I love to travel in a way that allows me to have a deeper connection to the people and places I visit. I find podcasts have been an awesome way to get insight into a place, the culture, the people before I go traveling. 

I have the opportunity to chat to you, which is a real privilege. Any advice for me and my listeners that will help us to experience the real Japan? You know, like, something that's not necessarily that you're going to find in the guidebooks. if there was [00:28:00] one or two things that you'd say to me, Paula, you need to do this, or you need to travel this way, 

Naomi Eguchi: , what I generally like to do when I visit, different countries or cities, I usually go to supermarkets.

You see what, regular, just the citizens are eating, buying, you know, how they interact, things like that. So that's my favorite place to go when I'm visiting, places I've never been to.

Paula Mohammed: Mm hmm.

Any specific advice for women traveling solo in Japan?

Naomi Eguchi: No,

Paula Mohammed: Safe.

Naomi Eguchi: very safe.

Yeah, very safe. Yeah.

Even kids travel alone. Once, so once you're in school, Six years old, you know, you have to pay for, a fee to get on transportation, right? The kids fee. So, once they're [00:29:00] able to pay, kids travel to school on their own.

Even if they're, like, grade one. If they have to use the train, if they're going to, private schools, you'll see a lot of kids traveling alone or in pairs or, even in all the neighborhoods, like kids go to school on their own. So

yeah, that shows that Japan's still, you know, safe.

Paula Mohammed: It sounds like it's an amazing place to raise a family. What, are your thoughts around that?

Naomi Eguchi: I think it really depends, where you choose to do that. So urban versus suburbs versus countryside, it's, it's a totally different vibe, 

Paula Mohammed: Remind me again, were you raised in urban or

Naomi Eguchi: I would say fairly urban.

Paula Mohammed: It must have been difficult for your mom. Making that transition to not only living in Japan, but trying [00:30:00] to, maintain a house, a Japanese household, when she talks about it now, when she reflects on it, did she, did she find it hard to be, separated from her family and in a country where she didn't speak the language?

Naomi Eguchi: She's a very ambitious person, and I think she was able to speak Japanese, actually, pretty fluently by the time she got married. And she just has this huge love for the Japanese language and the Japanese culture, so I don't think that part was Too much of a challenge to the point where she wanted, you know, she wanted to go back, I think she was blessed with a lot of good neighbors and family and an understanding husband in terms of like, He could speak, he could communicate in English if they needed to. So this is a side note, she always tells me about, , sort [00:31:00] of first 10 years of their marriage.

 They had this weekly challenge that they would alternate languages. So one week it was a Japanese week, right? And the next week would be English week. And they would just alternate that. So my mom always joked that like she would wait until the English week to say what she really needed to say.

Paula Mohammed: your Mum sounds amazing. That's great. There's three activities. I don't know if activities is the right word. I'm fascinated by, and I think it draws a lot of tourists. The Japanese tea ceremony, geisha, which I'm probably pronouncing wrong, and sumo wrestling. What are your thoughts on these?

Do locals participate in this? Like, is it something that's there for the tourists? Is it, is it a real part of the fabric of the Japanese culture? I'd love your perspective and

Naomi Eguchi: Well now it is a tourist attraction, but they're [00:32:00] not considered tourist attractions at all, for if you were living in Japan. The common commonality between these three are they're all, , very traditional culture.

So it's all about, preserving the traditional culture. There's actually very, a small percentage of the population that actually participate in these events or, in that world. Sumo wrestling, I only know one person in my generation that's a fan. It's something , I watched on TV a bit just because my dad watched it.

 And with the tea ceremony, again, I don't know anyone in my generation that's really into it. So, the tea ceremony, it's interesting because that practice, tea ceremony practice itself is more of a, it's a practice, right? It's a, it's like a zen thing. It's a [00:33:00] wabi sabi thing.

But, it used to be considered one of the practices for getting ready to become a bride.

Part of it is, I would say 99. 9 percent gone. I'm sure some people still do it. I would say I know more than the general public about the tea ceremony just because my family was deeply involved in it.

My grandmother was a tea ceremony and a flower arrangement teacher. So our whole family was very involved in the practice. \ I didn't learn it. But I helped out in tea ceremonies so, that's also an interesting part of can I how, what that looks like then? Like would people hire your grandmother to come and do a tea ceremony for them or how does that work?

 I would say the [00:34:00] teacher wouldn't actually do the tea ceremony part, like serve the tea, unless it's a huge event, maybe. Generally, her students will do the servings it's at a tea house and, you know, it's a tea ceremony is about not just about serving tea, it's about that whole spiritual experience you have.

So, from the moment you enter the kitchen, The premises, basically, you go through the garden and everything's , meticulously set up, with the philosophy of zen and wabi sabi and like in the art inside the tea room and the tea, the cups they serve it in has, , different art on it.

The treats, the, that come with the tea is all, it's an art on itself and [00:35:00] you can feel the season and all that. So it's an experience. It's definitely an experience. It's not just drinking matcha

So I worked as a background, like I served tea, wearing kimonos, but as a kid, , I refused to wear kimonos after the age of probably eight.

But then , I would do the background work of bringing the sandals back to the entrance that people would leave I would say most people have never had that experience. Paula, if you are going to, , go to a tea ceremony or want to experience it, I would , highly recommend, researching some things about it so you'll get the full experience, right?

Because without knowing it, it's just, , like Why is this so slow? Like, why do we have to do this? Why do we have to, stay quiet? Why aren't everyone, talking? 

In terms of the geisha part, [00:36:00] that's also a very traditional, culture that You only see in Kyoto. It's a very small area. I think you're, you'll be staying, like your hotel is close to that area, so you'll probably pass by and see a couple of them, just walking around maybe even during the day, if you're lucky.

 They sacrifice, basically it's a profession, so They do a lot of training and then it's a very highly, regarded profession.

Paula Mohammed: Do people of your age bracket still go into that profession? Are people still interested in the study of

Naomi Eguchi: To be honest, I have no idea. I don't have anyone in my circle that have ever expressed, any interest,

Paula Mohammed: naomi, it's been so great chatting to you. There's so much more that I still want to chat to you about, especially, your soccer career, more [00:37:00] about your business. I'd like to do another episode with you and continue on the conversation. But thank you so much for sharing your perspective and experiences.

I think it's invaluable to have access to this kind of local knowledge. And for me, it's not so much about the travel itinerary or restaurants to visit, but it's about gaining a better understanding of the people, places, culture of where I travel. And I feel like you did that for me and our listeners today.

So, huge. Thanks for that. no, don't get me wrong. I do want some recommendations of where to go eat and, and, uh, definitely some specific things to try for sure. The meantime though, can you just let our listeners know how they can find out more about you and realign first? And if you're on social media, if how they can follow along and watch your journey.

Naomi Eguchi: I'm most active right now on, Instagram, which my handle name is at realignfirst. If you're a [00:38:00] website person, , realignfirst. com. If you're local, I'm available for one on one, you know, in person sessions. And I'm also, putting together an online course for female athletes. So that's where I'm at.

Paula Mohammed: Fantastic. So we'll have a second episode where we'll learn more about, Realign first and your athletic background. Thanks so much, Naomi. I really appreciate this time.

Naomi Eguchi: Yeah, I had a lot of fun as well. Thanks for having me.

 Okay. So that was pretty amazing to have this chat with Naomi and then actually jump on a plane and go to Japan. Now that I'm back, just got back a few days ago. I thought I needed to add into this. Podcast episode what we ended up trying or experiencing that Naomi suggested here. We did end up. Trying the blow fish or the pufferfish, the Fugo It was unintentional 

actually, never did have any raw chicken I actually forgot [00:39:00] about it. 

 Can't say that I miss trying it, but I definitely would try it sometime. If it presented that opportunity presented itself. One thing that Naomi and I didn't talk too much about was, Sake and Sake is like a. Well, it's not Japanese wine, but it's kind of like that, I guess. What I didn't know, as in Kyoto, they're famous for their Sake. Because of the water in Kyoto is so soft. , I fell in love with the Kyoto Sake actually Sake in general, I was used to eating or drinking Sake uh, in Vancouver and we'd always have it hot, hot Sake 

well, the Sake I had in Japan was all at room temperature. And it was so smooth and so good. Anyway, check out my, episode, talking about my trip to Japan and I share more. About our discoveries there. I hope you enjoyed the episode and look forward to seeing you next week. And again, always, thanks for joining me on these culinary adventures.

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