Mist over forested mountains in Japan

Davelle Ya · Japan

SushiRamenMatchaAnimeKyoto

…are only part of the story.

To understand the food, start with the land.

An island country

Relief map of Japan — Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, Kyushu, Okinawa

0%mountains

Snow on Mount Yōtei, Hokkaido — Northheavy snow

A clear subtropical cove in Okinawa — Southsubtropics

Volcanoes. Typhoons. Snow. Sea.
The land shapes the culture.

The same nature gives Japan its food

SeaFish · seaweed
ForestWild plants · mushrooms
RiceSnowmelt · paddies
TeaHillside gardens

Spring

Summer

Autumn

Winter

旬

Shun

Food at its best moment

春Spring
夏Summer
秋Autumn
冬Winter

A young tea shoot in a Japanese tea field

Don’t overpower the ingredient.

Listen to it.

A fish · its flavor
A vegetable · its sweetness
A tea leaf · its aroma

Stone steps to a torii gate in a mossy cedar forest

いただきます

Itadakimasu

Said before every meal — thanks to the food, the life in it, and the hands that brought it.

Nature is something to respect, not simply to use.

Knowledge lives in people

A farmerreads the soil
A fishermanreads the sea
A tea masterreads the leaf
A bakerreads the dough

LookTouchSmellTaste

Nature is never the same twice.
So the knowledge is passed hand to hand.

Japan is not frozen in the past

Davelle being hand-lettered on the window at 102 Suffolk Street

An old street in Kyoto with a five-storey pagoda

Then · KyotoNow · Suffolk St

Old skills, new hands, new cities.
Tradition can evolve.

How to look at the shelf

Pick something up. Ask four questions.

PeopleWho made it?
LandWhere is it from?
SkillsHow is it made?
StoriesWhy does it exist?

On the shelf

What makes this one different?That question is where discovery begins.