Why Tokyo is the Food Capital of the World | Foreign Correspondent
(SLOW DRUMBEAT) (DRUMMING GROWS FASTER) Tokyo - the place that is now the number one global destination for food-lovers. Across the city, restaurants are packed, each with their own signature styles and flavours. There are almost 200,000 restaurants in Tokyo alone, from high-end dining... (DINERS LAUGH) ..down to the places to grab a cheap snack. How's business? Are you busy? So busy. (LAUGHS) That's good.
Food here is a fine art... This is the perfect noodle. Yeah. Perfect noodle. ..an obsession... ..and a lifelong devotion. Tokyo's reputation as THE place to dine is well and truly established. It has more Michelin-star restaurants than any other city - well ahead of its nearest rival, Paris. And a record number of tourists are flocking here, eager for a taste.
So, what's the secret? Why is Tokyo the culinary capital of the world? The secret to Tokyo's reputation begins with the produce. It's 3am at Tokyo's Toyosu fish market. Here, seafood traders are preparing to sell some of the world's best fish, worth tens of thousands of dollars. (SPEAKS JAPANESE) If you want to buy the very best tuna... ..this is who you come to see. Yukitaka Yamaguchi can tell where a fish comes from simply by its taste.
What are the qualities you're looking at to ensure you got the best tuna? Yukitaka has spent four decades building this into a multi-million-dollar empire. But not every buy is a winner. Maekawa! He won't work with fish that'll threaten his reputation. Yukitaka is picky about who he sells his tuna to. Ohayo.
One of them is Mei Kogo, a rising star of the sushi world. MEI: Itadakimasu. For Yukitaka, the secret to Tokyo's food success is the obsession to be the best. (BIRDSONG) Across town, it's 5am. We're at a restaurant that first began serving food 220 years ago. Centuries-old traditions and intensive training are part of the secret to why food in Japan is so special.
There's no greater example of this than 96-year-old master Kanejiro Kanemoto. Ohayo. (MAN SPEAKS JAPANESE) In this tiny kitchen, he's spent his entire life perfecting just this one dish.
Today, his chefs, including his son-in-law, will prepare and cook some 600 eels. Kanejiro oversees every stage of the process. (SPEAKS JAPANESE) This year, his grandson has also joined the family business.
Some of the techniques haven't changed in hundreds of years... ..including fanning the coals by hand - one of the most important skills to master. Then comes the real secret - the sauce. It's so prized, Kanejiro's family kept it stored in makeshift bomb shelters during the Second World War. It's taken Kanejiro a lifetime to perfect this one sauce.
He knows the secret to being the best. And it only comes with age. It's mid-morning on the sixth floor of a high-rise building in an up-market enclave of Tokyo. It's home to one of the city's many tiny restaurants, serving Japan's most iconic dish, sushi. Mei Kogo has won global recognition for her incredible skills.
So, this will taste sweeter? Yeah. Sweeter? That's it. OK. It's better.
Yeah. The flavours... Yeah. It... You just... You get more of the flavours, sooner. Mm. It's lovely.
This morning, she's preparing the fish carefully selected by Yukitaka, the Tuna King. (SPEAKS JAPANESE) The responsibility of doing it well never leaves her. In Japanese there's a word called 'shokunin'. It means 'craftsman'. And it's often used to describe a chef's pursuit of perfection. (SPEAKS JAPANESE) Her restaurant is booked out for months at a time - a remarkable feat in an industry that, traditionally, looked down on women.
The Japanese obsession with perfection isn't just found at the high end. On the city's outskirts, customers have travelled from all over the world to come to this ramen restaurant for lunch. Some have waited hours for a seat. (SPEAKS JAPANESE) So, I arrived here at 7:50 this morning, and I got up at 6:30. (LAUGHS) (SPEAKS JAPANESE) Osamu Tomita lives and breathes ramen. Osamu's speciality is 'tsukemen' or dipping noodles.
And while the deep, rich broth made from pork and fish has won him a legion of fans, he's all about the noodles. Everyone always thinks about the soup with ramen. Is the noodle just as important? Osamu's been tinkering with the types of flour he uses to make his noodles for 20 years. Every detail matters. Every second counts. (TIMER BEEPS) OK.
Shh. Mm. OK. OK. Arigato gozaimasu. This is the perfect noodle? Yeah. Perfect noodle. Yeah. Perfect noodle.
You've been cooking ramen for 20 years now. Have you perfected it? Osamu says the drive to keep customers happy is central to the Japanese spirit. (SPEAKS JAPANESE) STAFF: Arigato gozaimasu! So, how was it? Oh, it was amazing. It was very good. Um, lived up to the hype, for sure. Was it everything you thought it would be? More. Honestly, more.
It was the best one I've had. Sure. Yeah, me too. (BICYCLE BELL RINGS) WOMAN: (ON VIDEO) Apparently, this is the best pancake spot in Tokyo. MAN: (ON VIDEO) Here are 20 must-eat spots when you visit Tokyo. You don't have to be on social media for long to see just how much Japan's food scene is trending.
Influencers are having a field day exploring the many tastes of Tokyo. For those who run the restaurants, it's a huge opportunity, and one that young chefs, like the one I'm about to meet in this restaurant, are keen to capitalise on. Yuka-san. Hello. I'm James. nice to meet you. Nice to meet you. Uh, I was hoping to order some onigiri.
Mm-hm. What do you recommend? So... It's late afternoon and Yuka Hayakawa is fulfilling her final orders.
Yuka specialises in a traditional Japanese comfort food called onigiri - rice balls with flavoured fillings, wrapped in seaweed. And how's business? Are you busy? So busy. (LAUGHS) That's good. Yuka opened her restaurant to honour her family's history. Her onigiri is made with a modern flair, promoted through social media. With so many foodies flocking to this city, she wants to ensure she stands out.
Yuka has her own special ingredient that goes into the food she makes. It's 5pm, and the first dinner service is about to begin at Mei's restaurant. (CHATTER AND LAUGHTER) In this small eight-seat venue, she performs like a piece of theatre. (SPEAKS JAPANESE) (LAUGHTER) She's carefully curating and presenting Japan's finest produce with the finesse and attention to detail this city has become so famous for.
For Mei, the secret to Tokyo's culinary success is simple. (CHATTER IN JAPANESE) It's midnight and the day's not over yet. The team is heading out for some late-night sushi.
For Mei, the quest to be the best goes on. (CONVERSATION IN JAPANESE) And tomorrow, it all begins again. (CONVERSATION AND LAUGHTER) Captions by Red Bee Media Copyright Australian Broadcasting Corporation
2025-04-26 01:09
