In My Kitchen with Paula

The Essence of Japan: Naomi Eguchi's Story from Soccer to Sake (Part 2)

• Paula Mohammed • Episode 13

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A journey of food, soccer and cultural insights...

In this episode of 'In My Kitchen with Paula', host Paula Mohamed reunites with Naomi Eguchi, a former host and native of Kobe, Japan, for the second part of their series. They delve into: 

  • Naomi’s life, from her soccer career to her insights on Japanese culture.
  • Food, and the unique experience of staying in a ryokan and visiting onsens. 
  • Naomi discusses the difference in social customs between Japan and North America.
  • Must try foods in different Japanese regions like Kyoto, Osaka, and Hiroshima. 
  • Naomi shares her journey of transitioning from athlete to entrepreneur with Realign First, exploring the struggles and successes of that path.
  •  Paula's conversation with Naomi also covers broader themes of Japanese values, social behavior, and expectations.

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SAY HELLO

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

I'd love to hear from you! Connect with me in one of three ways:

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 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.

Paula Mohammed:

I am so excited to be back interviewing Naomi Eguchi, who is from Kobe, Japan, and somebody that I've known for quite a while. Now, as Naomi was one of our original in my kitchen hosts. This is part two of a two part series where I had the opportunity before I went traveling to Japan to sit down with Naomi and ask her lots of questions. But for me, I'd like to understand as much as I can. The essence of the place that I'm going to. And I also am persistently curious about people as you may have noticed in these podcast shows. So for me, a huge part of these chats is really getting to learn and hear and know about the stories behind the people that I talk to. And in part two, we really do that. Naomi and I talk a lot about her soccer career. And if you have daughters who are launching from high level soccer in high school, too. University, you may be interested in hearing what Naomi has to say. In addition, we also talk a lot about taking a look and chatting more about the Japanese people and, again, sort of the essence of the Japanese culture. So I could keep talking all day about this. Really fun for me to have this opportunity to chat with Naomi. So yeah, let's just get to it. Naomi, it's so good to see you again. Thanks for agreeing to come back and doing another interview.

Naomi Eguchi:

of course.

Paula Mohammed:

When you hear that we're going to your home country, what is it that you hope we walk away from that experience? What do you hope tourists will go and experience?

Naomi Eguchi:

100 percent the food first and foremost. I think wherever you travel in Japan, you will love every single meal that you have. I'm pretty confident with that. And just like to experience how Japanese people operate differently than, North Americans, they're very reserved, shy, but they have a, huge respect towards others and their, other space. You probably will feel that In ways that help you, and sometimes, you wish they would talk more or, be more friendly, but most of them are just shy, and if you urge them to talk, they will, just like me. I need to be urged. But yeah, so most of them don't, easily express their emotions or feelings. Those are one of the things. I also struggle, struggled, and I still struggle with, being open. I'm still considered a very private person here. But that's just, because I grew up in Japan,

Paula Mohammed:

I remember when we started doing In My Kitchen and you were doing the in person experiences, which is nerve wracking for an extrovert, let alone somebody who's on the shy side. And I was always so impressed because a part of why you were doing it was to share your love of cooking and the Japanese cuisine, but you wanted to put yourself out there, the practice of putting yourself out there. Can you share with our listeners? about Onsens and Ryokans. I'm pronouncing it not correctly, but what they are. And I'm curious if it's something that your generation participates in or goes to.

Naomi Eguchi:

Yeah, your close. The hot springs are called onsens. The ryokans, what ryokan is just a Japanese style hotel accommodation. Our generation or any generation, Japanese people still, it's part of traveling. Not all ryokans or not all ons, hotels would have a hot, natural hot spring. The ryokans, the, tend to be slightly on the higher end, price wise, slightly more expensive. than, very basic hotels just because they tend to serve dinners dinners included and also most ryokans, while you're in the onsen, once you arrive, once you check in, you settle in and the general flow is that you check in, you go to your room, and then you go to the onsen, right? So generally you'll probably spend An hour at the hot spring because there's different style baths that you can try out usually and most of the time there's baths outside which is amazing you should definitely try that out because it's amazing not outside that everyone can see you but It's the theme, is an outside, hot spring. And then once you come back to your room, all the futons set up and usually the meal's already set up. If you set the meal to be if you ask to eat in the room, it's all set up and then you eat and then just chill out for the night. So that is. Ryokan. That's the site, that's the flow if you stayed in a traditional ryokan. It's a fantastic experience.

Paula Mohammed:

Originally, when I started looking at planning this trip, the Ryokan and Onsen, I thought they go hand in hand, but they're not necessarily together. I

Naomi Eguchi:

I'm not sure. I would say most ryokans have onsen, but I don't actually know if that's a requirement to call a ryokan. They usually have hot springs. However, they might not be natural hot springs.

Paula Mohammed:

And when you're growing up in Japan, is it like in the Scandinavian countries, would you go as a family? The Finland sauna, the sauna is a big thing. Would you go as a family to the Onsen?

Naomi Eguchi:

Generally, yes. And, that's why, the room is just If you have a big room, you can fill it with however many futons you want, right? It's not like where in one room you only have two beds, right? You

Paula Mohammed:

I see.

Naomi Eguchi:

if you want, if you're a big family of ten, you can probably fit in ten futons if there is, if they have a big room it is suited for families, I would say.

Paula Mohammed:

The food you mentioned to experience and you gave a great highlight of the food in the different regions in our previous episode. Now I want to get down to the nitty gritty. What do I need to try in these areas? So when we're in Kyoto, Osaka and, Hiroshima, maybe if there's anything specific there.

Naomi Eguchi:

We'll start with Hiroshima. If you're in Hiroshima and you mentioned you're doing a bike trip and definitely do the okonomiyaki, the Hiroshima style okonomiyaki after your bike trip because I think that would be a perfect opportunity for you to just try what it is because it's super good but just like the volumes arts so Hiroshima definitely. and you mentioned you're trying the fugu as well in Hiroshima. Their food is good. Like, wherever you go, it's going to be good. Also, in Kyushu definitely fresh seafood they have very fresh seafood. And they're generally known for their chicken as well. A lot of the Japanese domestic chicken. If they're brand name chicken, they come from the Kyushu region throughout Japan.

Paula Mohammed:

Okay.

Naomi Eguchi:

Yeah, which is good to know, I think. So you can just imagine how fresh it is in Kyushu I'm so jealous that we're going. Honestly, yeah. And also I don't know if you're up for it, but Horse meat is also famous there. I don't know if that's in your plans, but that'll be Kyushu. And Osaka I've mentioned, just everything is a valued, in a valued price. So I recommend doing hopping, like izakaya hopping, right? So try out a couple dishes here, and then go to a place, try out a few there, and it's all very reasonably priced, And it's totally normal to do that, to just order a couple, couple small dishes, and it's, hop to the next one. That's what I would recommend doing in Osaka. And in Kyoto, what's, if you go to more of a reserved restaurant, Kyoto cuisine is more known for, the visual and also, using ingredients that are so that's a, that would be an interesting, experience because you can only experience it that, like they change their menus every couple of weeks maybe to match it like totally what's in season.

Paula Mohammed:

Oh, that's gonna be great.

Naomi Eguchi:

yeah, so they value that a lot more than I think other regions of Japan. I think, yeah, that would be It

Paula Mohammed:

And if we do I'd like to do a day trip to Kobe and that because that's where you're from and That's the Kobe beef. Isn't it?

Naomi Eguchi:

Is the home of Kobe beef. However, you can basically eat Kobe beef at, high end steakhouses. And other, Korean barbecue type, we call it yakiniku, yakiniku placeS. side story, I used to work at a yakiniku restaurant that only served Kobe beef.

Paula Mohammed:

Fun?

Naomi Eguchi:

there's tons of other wagyu beef that's considered better than Kobe beef, actually, with better value. It's just that Kobe beef is a well known global brand, right? And you will see, Kobe beef steakhouses around, downtown Kobe, so if you want to try it out, it's one small steak, a filet, would be like, I don't know, would probably be like a hundred bucks, but if you want to try it out.

Paula Mohammed:

No, I'm okay with that it's like I can appreciate It's not where I personally would put my money back and appreciate why people do that May want to,

Naomi Eguchi:

yeah, it's Yeah, there's tons of other, amazing Wagyu brands throughout Japan that you'll find in restaurants, Nothing that special about Kobe beef.

Paula Mohammed:

I know you went to university in Canada. I do highly encourage our listeners to listen to the first episode, if you haven't, with Naomi, where she talks about her background. So you grew up in Japan, went to university in Canada, and then went back and lived in Japan for 10 years. In that period, just those university age And just out of university, what do you do with your friends? What's your lifestyle like? Is it similar to here? Do you eat out more? Do you eat in? the affordability that you talked about in Osaka, the value. I imagine it was a pretty fun place to be at that age.

Naomi Eguchi:

Yes, 100%. So my social life is totally different here and in Japan, I would say, even in my younger days. What's different about here and in Japan. And you'll find this when you travel there, so here, just imagine even in Vancouver, there's not too much public transportation going around, but what do you see around train stations here, like nothing, maybe bus terminals, right? Yeah, not much going on. In Japan, even like the smallest station, you can call it a station, even the smallest station, like around the station, there will be izakayas. At the big station, there's like hundreds to choose from, right? So around the station there, around stations, there's these eateries, tons of these eateries. So it's part of, the after five that you just drop by whatever with your friends. Doesn't really matter if you're just there to chat. Or if you're just there for a drink or two, like it doesn't have to be the best izakaya in the world. You're just like chatting over beer, just ordering a couple of like small dishes, but mainly to chat. And if you're with a group and like you do the research, you want to go this place, this izakaya or this restaurant, you do that. And, but the main thing is you're just like there to. chat and eat and drink.

Paula Mohammed:

So more connection. More connecting with people.

Naomi Eguchi:

It's rarely a drag to go out. It's partly, it's on the way home and

Paula Mohammed:

Ah, I see. So you'd be on the way home from work. You'd get off at the station. Your other friends would be there. You'd have a bite, some drinks, and then go home.

Naomi Eguchi:

go home or just continue on the hops.

Paula Mohammed:

The hops. I love it. Hey, any advice? When we're there to tell which type of eatery to go to if one might be better than the other, if there's a huge selection of them around, or basically we can't go wrong

Naomi Eguchi:

That is in general, if it's busy, there must be, yeah, a reason for it.

Paula Mohammed:

You told me, actually you just mentioned it briefly here too in the beginning how, Japanese people are very shy. Where does that come from do you think, or how, what's How is that, valued? I think is what I'm trying to get at.

Naomi Eguchi:

I might have touched on this before, but I think the, like how they value the harmony of things. So like their group, their family, there's this, concept called like uchi and soto, which means like inside and outside., How I told you about, not standing out, not making a scene,

Paula Mohammed:

And is it because then it's the, the community or the group is more successful if they have shared wins together versus the individual

Naomi Eguchi:

I think shared wins are definitely bigger,

Paula Mohammed:

right?

Naomi Eguchi:

100 percent bigger than one individual, shining in that group

Paula Mohammed:

you mentioned to me once, I thought it was so interesting, how we'll notice when we're in the train stations, Japanese people will put, if they're wearing backpacks on the front. Can you just tell that story again for our listeners? So when it's in the front, you're not banging into people with your backpack,

Naomi Eguchi:

That's basically the idea. It's not because you're likely going to be, pickpocketed, right? But, you might find this, when you're on trains and stuff, but you would see ads. You would see ads inside the trains or, buses, how to be considerate to others, not to be, selfish, taking up so much space on seats. Not speaking, like not talking loud. Some people might be botHered. Giving your seat to people in need. And all these things you would see posters of it. These things. Yeah,

Paula Mohammed:

I was actually, painfully shy growing up, from a little kid all through my teenage years, even now sometimes. And for me, it was sports and acting that bridged that gap. that gap for me and to help me get over my shyness. So I'm curious if this is what you found in soccer for you. Did that help

Naomi Eguchi:

yeah. My story is, I think, a little, different as well. So I did start out as very shy as a small kid, but as I started sports, I actually was a very open, leadership type of, I had that kind of personality. And, sports definitely helped, being a team player, but also, doing the things that was needed for a team. And I actually was, the captain of my high school soccer team. But there was this huge chunk, leading up to that where, again, my sort of character was basically suppressed by our coaches, teachers, our seat, teammates, right? The part that you shouldn't stand out, good or bad. So I had, I did struggle a bit with that. So I just kept silence for the longest time. And then, that's, but that's part of how you stay respectful, so not a bad thing at all in Japan, but then once I came back, came to Canada, university, soccer, again, like I was very quiet, but like I quickly noticed that was. Not the way to go in North America, so I had to speak up for myself. So I learned the hard way. but yeah, so I would say, I have a lot to say, so I do, speak up if I had to, but I generally default back to, being the observer, and it's like, Taking a step back.

Paula Mohammed:

When you go back to Japan now, cause I know you go back quite regularly. Do you find that you have to do a reset or is it natural for you to sit back?

Naomi Eguchi:

Yeah, so now it's interesting because whenever I go back I have the status of like basically I'm a foreigner now.

Paula Mohammed:

Oh, interesting.

Naomi Eguchi:

Yeah, because I live in Canada and there's basically nothing, not much about me that's, aside from talking Japanese that's Japanese of me. So I'm a little more relaxed because I do have an excuse. of just, if I screw up, I'm not like totally aligned with the Japanese code, I'm fine.

Paula Mohammed:

It amazes me how the Japanese culture can instill so strongly these values and about respect and etiquette and how even like your generation doesn't rebel against it. There's a real strong respect, for the Japanese, culture, it seems

Naomi Eguchi:

yeah, I can't really answer that question because there's a lot of aggression, if it's anonymous. So the same sort of thing happening on social media and Twitter and if it's anonymous, they do, do They can become pretty aggressive verbally. It just shows they actually have strong opinions to things. So if they're not confronted, if it's anonymous, it's on, if it's, through the internets, they're not shy to say anything, but it has to be anonymous.

Paula Mohammed:

I understand what you're saying. I didn't even think about the role of social media and how that has, that's a whole new element

Naomi Eguchi:

so they're basically conditioned to be really, harmonious and respectful in the outside, right? I think that's how everything works smoothly, less conflict, all the things foreigners think Japan is. But in the inside, it's, we're dealing with the same problem, I think, anywhere in the world.

Paula Mohammed:

for sure. Oh, thanks for sharing that. That was, insightful. Can you just walk us through the, your soccer career, the timeline? You came to Canada, was it on a scholarship for soccer? And then did you go back and play in Japan?

Naomi Eguchi:

YEs. I started playing soccer in my early teens. Before that, I was a baseball player, but there was no way to continue baseball as a girl in Japan, so I switched to soccer. which there is more options. And I ended up going to a high school that was, that had a really strong soccer program and we won nationals there and, all that kind of glorious things, but I didn't want to go pro after high school and Japanese universities didn't offer real scholarships. So it was like student loans basically. And. I didn't want to do that, and I also had a dream of playing in the U. S. because back then, U. S. was, the number one place to be if you were playing soccer as a woman, the, female soccer world. I was also, trying to figure out if any way I could go to the States, but it was pretty hard to get a scholarship without, having, being on a national team yet. Back then, you, I didn't have any videos to show, or didn't have any YouTube, things that gave them proof that, to show them who I was. It was pretty hard, pretty tough to get that. I discovered that SFU, Simon Fraser, plays in American League. I discovered that through my sister that lives here and looked into the options there and they had a great program both for soccer, athletics, and also academically. I got a full scholarship to play soccer for SFU and also at the same time, Achieved my goal of playing in the U. S. because we played against all like U. S. teams. Yeah, so I played for two years at SFU, two seasons, and then I was actually quite unhappy, with the results and, how I was developing as a soccer player. So I actually took my third year off and went back to Japan, played professionally for a season there, and upgraded all my skills. my skills there and came back and graduated. I played another season at SFU, but then basically after that, I went back to Japan, played professional for a couple more years. I really liked the Japanese league so this is almost 20 years ago, right? So 20 years ago, there weren't professional women's leagues around the world that you would be able to get paid and organized and year round. There were seasons, but, for example, in the U. S., they had summer leagues that you might get paid a little bit, but, what would you do? The rest of the year, right? So Japan, Japan soccer is known for there's no, there's seasons, but you basically stay on the team year round. And I wasn't getting paid fully, but I was, working at companies that my team had, relationships with. So we would get off at 2. 33 and then go train every day sort of thing, so there's arrangements like that done. And then I quit playing soccer at the age of around 26, a couple of reasons I won't go into, After quitting soccer, I immediately started my career as futsal player and I played futsal very competitively for the next, I would say about 10 years

Paula Mohammed:

and futsal's indoor soccer kind of, is

Naomi Eguchi:

Yeah, so basically indoor soccer, five V five indoor soccer, Not as popular in North America, but it's hugely popular. Basically everywhere else. I would say. Europe, Asia. Yeah,

Paula Mohammed:

And it was from your soccer career that you were inspired to create Realign First.

Naomi Eguchi:

Right. So during my soccer career, I had a lot of injuries and with minimal support. And, I was a player with a lot of injuries. One of the reasons I quit soccer was that I couldn't do it anymore. But after my soccer career, I decided to become a personal trainer and through that training and also at that time I met like basically my mentor. And I was being trained by that trainer, coach, and I basically just transport my body so fast that I just regretted quitting soccer and that's basically why I started playing competitively again. playing futsal again because I had that confidence that you know like I was struggling with knee pain but that went away so fast it was unreal that's basically yeah where I discovered the basis of what I do today and how I train today is through how I transform transport my body so

Paula Mohammed:

And as a entrepreneur, would it have been as easy for you to start this business in Japan? We talked about how, Japanese culture, it's about the group versus the individual. So is entrepreneurship encouraged in Japan?

Naomi Eguchi:

I would say not so much. Whenever I would say I'm a freelance personal trainer in Japan, some people will say, oh, good for you, but a lot would say, oh, how long are you going to do that? Or, like, when are you going to get a real job? It's not considered real if you are just doing your own thing. Even if you're financially independent. It's a lot of, especially the older generation, they don't see it as a real job.

Paula Mohammed:

Yeah, interesting.

Naomi Eguchi:

yeah, there's a lot of pushback there, but I didn't really care as long as I was financially independent. I really didn't care what people said, but at the same time, I really felt it was hard to expand my business. What I feel in Canada is completely different than what I felt in that terms in Japan. People are much more open to new ideas here, and also entrepreneurship, being independent, trying new things. It's all, a lot more people are cheering what I do, support,

Paula Mohammed:

It's encouraged for

Naomi Eguchi:

encourage. Yes,

Paula Mohammed:

When I was in university, I did my degree in human kinetics and I actually wrote a paper, on the Japanese baseball team system and is what you said professional. And I thought it was so interesting because you said the same thing with your soccer. But it was the corporations, the companies that would have their own team. And so when there were games and competitions, the company is behind the team and out there cheering. Is that still happening? That system in Japan now with sports?

Naomi Eguchi:

Yes. For professional sports teams, I think, in general, there is a major, like the big sponsor, which is the company. Backing up the teams and then there might be tons of like smaller sponsors, but generally it's a bigger Corporation backing up like the bigger teams

Paula Mohammed:

What I found so interesting, because my career for a long time was in sports marketing and sponsorship, but Japan really had it nailed when the employees, like the companies were literally in the stands, the teams that they were sponsoring. I mean that, talk about activating sponsorship. Now I'm going into a whole other topic well away from food and culture, but sponsorship activation was happening, early days in JapaN.

Naomi Eguchi:

I see that a lot. I mean because I'm in the female soccer World I see that with female soccer Leagues in Japan as well right now because they have a professional league that started a couple years ago But they're trying, to basically, bring in that system back into more sports than just, baseball. Baseball

Paula Mohammed:

I think it's great. It makes a lot of sense. Naomi, what do you miss most from Japan now that we've got you here as a Vancouverite?

Naomi Eguchi:

Yeah, I, if we continue on with this food thing, I really miss, as I mentioned, just, casually going out with frieNds. maybe because I'm living in Vancouver, everything seems so, there's not a casual place I can go in my neighborhood besides, breweries, which is fine, but it's just, beer, right? And you can't really go on an empty stomach, because there's, not much food, not much good food, at least. And Yeah, I just missed the small eateries and just meeting up with friends casually and also like some places you can go alone and get to know the people, the regulars around them, like that come and it's a different vibe. Yeah.

Paula Mohammed:

Sounds like there's more opportunity to connect with people.

Naomi Eguchi:

Yeah, totally.

Paula Mohammed:

What do you prefer about, living here in Canada from Japan,

Naomi Eguchi:

yeah, in general, I think, again, if we just stick to the topic of food, I think generally people have a better understanding what actually nutrition is. I find that it's easier to eat healthy here, compared to JApan. what else?

Paula Mohammed:

I think I can see that, especially here in Vancouver, it is

Naomi Eguchi:

Health conscious people.

Paula Mohammed:

active west coast. In these, this episode, the one before we've talked. A lot. We went off the path of food a little bit and to culture and the deep rooted values of the Japanese culture. Do you see Japan changing? What is your generation feeling about the future of Japan? And do you think the Japanese culture will continue to be as strong for the next generations as it has been in the past?

Naomi Eguchi:

Yeah, so I think it's already changing, for one. Internet basically changes everything and, social media just escalates everything. So now individuals can get their own information instead of being fed by, more traditional mass media. But what I see with my generation or even younger people is that it, there's really two types of people, like people that are open to things that happen or information outside of Japan and people that don't have any interest in, for example, like going abroad or learning English or anything. They just want to stick in their, stay in their comfort zone in Japan. There's definitely that distinct split. That's what I find.

Paula Mohammed:

We know which side of that you're on.

Naomi Eguchi:

And like most of my friends are on, right?

Paula Mohammed:

Yeah. Naomi, I see a third episode happening here. When I come back from Japan, I'd really, love to chat to you after I've experienced it hands on again. thank you so much for, sitting down with me and sharing your perspective and insights with our listeners.

Naomi Eguchi:

Yeah, as always, I'm always super excited to talk to you about Japan. Thank you for Over to your podcast.

Paula Mohammed:

anytime One last time. For people who want to learn more about Realign first and follow you and your journey, where can they find you on social media?

Naomi Eguchi:

Yeah, so I'm, most active on Instagram right now. My, you can find me at Realign First and my website is realignfirst. com. If you live local, then, that might be a better source for information about my practice.

Paula Mohammed:

Thanks, Naomi. Good luck with everything. And, I look forward to my next training session with you. I can attest that my knee pain is almost, if anything, gone thanks to Naomi.

Naomi Eguchi:

My pleasure. Thank you so much, Paula.

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