Join me, Rudy Maxa and my friend, Washington, DC, restaurateur, Daisuke Utagawa as we tour one of Japan’s southern islands–Kyushu.
Palm trees and cherry blossoms explode in Kyushu where visitors relax by being buried up to their necks in sand made hot from natural springs. Kyushu is a region known for its dramatic landscape and its fiercely independent people.
Rudy Maxa’s World Taste of Japan series shows Japan as viewers have never seen it…
Travel journalist Rudy Maxa and Washington, DC, restaurateur Daisuke Utagawa co-host four new Rudy Maxa’s World episodes for 2017; a special one-hour travel show that highlights three distinct regions of Japan by focusing on their food and the people who work the fields and waters, and three individual 30-minute episodes on Tokyo, Hokkaido, and Kyushu.
“This isn’t a food show per se,” says Maxa. “This is a travel show that uses food and local producers to tell the story of a nation and its culture.”
There are more three-starred Michelin restaurants in Tokyo than in Paris—Tokyo wins 13 to 9. More starred restaurants than in New York City—Tokyo wins 217 to 76. But it’s not all about celebrity chefs. The history of multi-generational producers of the nation’s bounty and their exacting commitment to quality sets Japan apart from the rest of the world.
From the ramen of the northern islands of Hokkaido, to the sushi of Tokyo, to the Wagyu beef raised on the tropical island of Kyushu, food is the window on the soul of Japan, where less can be more—whether discussing flower arranging, design, or cuisine.
Concurrent with a rise in food travel and the farm-to-table movement, Rudy Maxa’s World: Taste of Japan will whet two appetites of viewers: a desire to travel and a desire to eat.
