Some More Miso For Your Meat?

Our sponsor Marukome, a worldwide manufactuer of miso, will be selling misoyaki (miso-marinated beef) at the Healthy Food & Green Festival this Sunday. One of their many miso products is a misoyaki marinade sauce called, well, Miso Yaki. This sauce is a savory miso-based sauce used to marinate and enhance the flavor of meat and fish.

JRO Essence of Japanese Cuisine Demonstration Schedule

We're pleased to announce our demonstration schedule for the Healthy Food & Green Festival! There will be a stage in the center of the festival (Madison Avenue between 43rd & 45th Streets), where well-regarded chefs from the New York restaurant world as well as food experts will present the basics of Japanese cuisine and demonstrate how to use some Japanese ingredients. Free tastings follow the Dashi & Umami, Okonomiyaki, and Mentaiko Demonstrations.

The Essence of Japanese Cuisine

The upcoming Healthy Food and Green Festival is not just about new and healthy Japanese products but a celebration of a healthy lifestyle based on basic Japanese ingredients.

Japanese cuisine is generally very low in cholestorol, which is explained by some of the staple foods found in Japan. For example, in almost every Japanese meal, you will find rice that is rich in carbohydrates (good for energy), contains vitamin D, calcium, fibre and iron, and is low in sodium; so it is recommended for people suffering from high blood pressure. In meals that don't have rice, you may find Japanese noodles such as soba or udon that are very nutritious as well. In addition to being rich sources of carbs and vitamins, udon noodles were discovered to have incredible digestive enzymes which dissolve in the stomach much faster than other pastas and noodles, and three times faster than beef.

Introducing Fugu, the JapanTown Healthy Food & Green Festival Mascot!

This year's Healthy Food and Green Festival's mascot is Fugu the Pufferfish. Fugu's slogan is "メタボ?" ("Metabo?"), which essentially means "are you healthy?" Metabo is also short for metabolic syndrome, a term for a group of medical complications that together increase the risk of heart disease and diabetes. One of the risk factors of metabolic syndrome is obesity, which is what Fugu has. Fugu's job is to remind everyone to eat healthy to avoid health-related illnesses.

A Gyoza That's Both Healthy & Green

Here's another product that perfectly fits our theme of Healthy Food & Green: Ajinomoto's Edamame Vegetable Gyoza, featuring a green vegetable wrapper stuffed with edamame, green beans, yellow carrots and red bell peppers. Steamed, boiled, or pan fried, these gyoza (dumplings), make a healthy meal and even an colorful party appetizer. Edamame Vegetable Gyoza can be found in the frozen food section in supermarkets. Look out for this new product at the JapanTown Healthy Foods & Green Festival. We hope you'll stop by to try them out!

And the Winner of the JapanTown Cool Japan Fashion Contest is...

Now for the moment you have all been waiting for: the winner of the JapanTown Cool Japan Fashion Contest is...Paloma L.! She will receive a round trip ticket to Japan through American Airlines. Congrats, Paloma!

The winner, Paloma L., is dressed in Decora-kei style

Official press release! Our next festival, the Healthy Food & Green Festival, invigorates Midtown New York on August 22nd! Come and discover the tasty good-for-you Japanese eats you probably never had before. This festival features unique Japanese foods that promote your health, organic ingredients, and sustainable products. You'll some interesting foods you'll find are hiyashi chuuka (a Japanese cold noodle dish), kukicha (tea stem tea), and Ryokko Aojiru (a health drink). There will also be demonstrations on how to use select Japanese ingredients in your everyday life. Some sponsors who specialize in healthy products have also joined this festival, such as Marukome, Asahi Ryokuken, Kikkoman, and Ito En. Stay tuned to find out more about the world of unique Japanese foods, our sponsors, vendors and their delicious healthy products!

Drink to Your Health with Ryokko Aojiru

Asahi Ryokuken Co. is a Japanese company that specializes in the famous Ryokko Aojiru health drink made primarily from powdered young organic barley grass. Aojiru, a drink that has been around in Japan for ages, is a commonly prescribed nutritional supplement in Japan.

Ryokko Aojiru is good for you for several reasons. First, its unique combination of vitamins and nutrients helps prevent the absorption of cholesterol. It also includes lactic bacteria to improve digestion. Ryokko Aojiru's powder can be added to any beverage, or even food (they recommend adding it to yogurt, or even pancakes for kids!) It is also a safe, easy way to maintain a nutrient-rich diet during pregnancy.

Since 1997, Ryokko Aojiru has been developed in a complex, state-of-the-art method; it's extremely thorough quality

control process makes sure you bring home a safe, high-quality drink. Check out the link for pictures and videos of the entire process. It looks like they are working in a space station! You can also order one free sample to try out or taste the evolved form of an age-old recipe at JapanTown's Healthy Food and Green Festival!

Souen, a Macrobiotic Oasis

I have a confession to make. When I was tasked to review Souen and I heard that it's all about macrobiotic food, I imagined that I would probably deep-fry some sausages in beer batter and drink hot sauce as compensation afterward, because I live on highly processed eats laced with chemicals.

I exaggerate. I'm generally a healthy eater, but I'm just not into any faddish health movements. Once we stepped through Souen's doors and into its intimate, calming, spa-like restaurant, however, all thoughts of seeking a tasty heart attack fled my mind.

Squid Hunt Fiasco

Many apologies to the contestants of the recent scandalous Squid Hunt. This is David (the L), who's running this contest. My view for the JapanTown FB wall is by default set to the "JapanTown Festival" filter. We didn't specify where exactly to post the galleries, which resulted in posts all over the page. After looking at the page hundreds of times, the other filters simply melt into the background, which resulted in me accidentally ignoring the "Just Others" link. We didn't expect it to be so complicated on Facebook! (Yikes!) We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience and all bad feelings associated with this fiasco and I hope everyone understands that this is an honest mistake. I promise that any future events will have a much simpler system. Congrats to Vicky, the true winner of the Squid Hunt!