Umeboshi | Cultivated Days

WELCOME to the JOURNAL

Here you'll find my collection of essays called 72 Seasons of Eating, a gastronomic journey through the seasonal rhythms of the kitchen and the table in the heart of rural Japan. The Mirukashi Collective series of essays introduces our collaborators.
Take a seat and read along.

THE LATEST POST

A shiso laced ume sorbet looks like heaven on a spoon During a midsummer run of high heat in late July known as the doyo, the sun blazes and the cicadas roar. It’s a hot, dry (if you don’t count the humidity) interval between the tsuyu rainy season and stormy August skies seen when turbulent typhoons […]

REad post

ALL RECENT POSTS:

Umeboshi | Cultivated Days

72 Seasons of Eating

The plum moon

A shiso laced ume sorbet looks like heaven on a spoon During a midsummer run of high heat in late July known as the doyo, the sun blazes and the cicadas roar. It’s a hot, dry (if you don’t count the humidity) interval between the tsuyu rainy season and stormy August skies seen when turbulent typhoons […]

72 Seasons of Eating

At the threshold 

Somen on ice for a sultry summer   The rains clear leaving a steaming cauldron in their wake. The sun burns brightly stalling any breeze that might whisper some small reprieve. Young hawks take flight, learning to soar through the hot summer skies. The heavy rains followed by sun has spurred a burst of growth […]

72 Seasons of Eating

A prelude

Ice brewed shincha for summer If June was any indication, we are in for a sultry summer. Alternating rounds of torrential rains that fall in this tsuyu rainy season and bright sun that vaporizes the gathered moisture bring on riotous thunder storms. Bolts strike alarmingly close to our hilltop home. On these muggy days a […]

Biwa and Gobo Shirae

72 Seasons of Eating

Sweet pleasures

Loquats are the sweet pleasure of June June is a month of sweet pleasures. After the hustle of staying warm all winter long, and the sprint through spring, we slow down at the start of June, if not in body, at least in mind. This season feels sweetly languorous with light that lasts so long […]

72 Seasons of Eating

Leave no trace

I would like nothing more than to cook all day After so many years living in this same rural corner of Kyushu, I still stumble upon sights I’ve never seen before. A wrong turn on a drive to a nearby town took me down a narrow country lane. Camel colored fields stretched into the distance […]

72 Seasons of Eating

The taste of the hand

As long as there is rice and Japanese pickles I stand on the veranda outside Kuniko’s kitchen looking across the treetops towards the facing hillside. The viridescence of spring is deepening into a concentrated and uniform shade. Kuniko hovers in the doorway. The green is thickening, she says. Soon it will grow heavy, as opaque […]

72 Seasons of Eating

On summer’s eve

Chawanmushi with kinome and preserved sakura buds Summer has felt slow to arrive, but that’s just my impatience speaking. Finally the first warm night of the year arrived on the eve of May. I opened the window to listen the humming crickets and felt the nighttime air on my skin void of chill for the […]

72 Seasons of Eating

Which is to say

Himono air dried Horse mackerel There has been no mandate here but we have decided to implement stay-at-home measures. On the one hand so much has changed. Travel programs and exhibitions are cancelled for the foreseeable future as well as our annual migration to Maine. And on the other hand very little has changed. Cooking, […]

Preserved Sakura Bud Recipe from Cultivated Days

72 Seasons of Eating

A thing to behold

Preserving cherry blossoms for garnish The sakura will bloom again next year. With these words the mayor of Tokyo urged people not to congregate in cherry blossom revelry under trees in parks over this past weekend. It was part of a plea to the residents of her city to stay home and avoid all non-essential outings […]

72 Seasons of Eating

An understanding of flavor

Our favorite Tokyo chef returns to Karatsu My father-in-law Takashi has very specific and very good taste in food. He is what his family members call urusai when it comes to flavor, a word that can mean noisy or fussy. He isn’t fussy in the – I don’t like this or that kind of food […]

Browse by Category

Spring

Summer

Winter

Autumn

Profiles

STEP INTO these seasonal stories at the MIRUKASHI SALON

Join an intimate gathering of extraordinary guests and together we'll explore the flavors of the season in the context of one of the world’s greatest culinary traditions. I can’t wait to welcome you.

come to mirukashi