Vegetable Chef Keiko Kuwakino

Introduction Niigata Prefecture is located only 70 minutes from Tokyo by Shinkansen bullet train. The food culture of the snow country, centering on preserved foods, was fostered by the wisdom born from a life covered with snow for half a year in winter. Chefs who become hunters themselves and cook gibier. The tastiest rice in Japan, fish that has been nerve-tightened by fishermen, and superb sushi created by a chef who knows all about the characteristics of these ingredients. The marriage of food and sake. And the salmon culture of Murakami, where 100 different salmon dishes are still alive today… Please enjoy Niigata’s climate, ingredients, traditions, and history, and enjoy a trip to Niigata to experience its food culture.

Yukiguni is Snow Country, the spirit of the snow which has been deeply rooted beneath the frosted white powder in the soil that is connected to the hearts of the people. The history of the people are those who have lived with the snow and people continue living with the snow for a long time, so because of that there is a snow culture appeal that is different than many other parts of Japan. 

Keiko Kuwakino Keiko Kuwakino is a chef in Niigata Prefecture who joined in 2014 setting down her roots in Osawa district in Minami-Uonuma. Keiko graduated from Musashi University Department of Comparative Culture (Faculty of Humanities). She would work at a beauty salon in Tokyo, until she decided to go abroad to travel to: Austria, Germany, and India, learning yoga and vegetarian cuisine from various countries. After returning to Japan, she worked at a vegan restaurant in Tokyo and then joined Jiyujin continuing to travel to meet great chefs and continue her own search of learning in: Korea, Malaysia, Belgium, Austria, Peru, Spain, and Singapore. She spends her days visiting the hot springs (public baths) and hiking in the mountains, collecting ingredients, interacting with locals, experiencing the food culture, listening to peoples way of life. In 2018, she became the head chef of Satoyama Jiyujyo, and in 2020, she received one star in the Michelin Guide Niigata 2020 Special Edition. In 2021, she received 15.5 points in the Gault & Millau 2021.

Keiko Kuwakino, born in 1980 in Saitama Prefecture (Niiza City)

Keiko Kuwakino has been a driving force in the Japanese food world, especially in regional cuisine development with her works in Uanuma, and especially as the master of yukiguni (snow country) vegetables. The enlightening full-circle adventurous travel to the decision of making a place home by metaphorically planting her roots to allow herself to grow there. There were people reading interviews with her on the phone with a translating device and passing it on to the prep cook in the back of the house from one of the ladies from the register who was interested in her journey.

With people who were always looking for as much as they could with the development of cooking with vegetables in interesting ways on the internet they would come across titles like plant-forward chef at Satoyama Juja. Delights of dishes that were forward-thinking from one bite dishes to the layered dishes there would always be a sort of natural understanding that was explained to connect with the foods to people. That was something that could be described as innocent, but intentional, and with a feeling of strong integrity behind it. 

Isabella Gallaon who has been a strong advocate and guide for those wanting to learn more about Yukiguni (snow country), Minami-Uanuma’s Revitalization, and Niigata Prefecture in general had met her at a symposium. Cooks overseas would have been influenced from Keiko’s story of understanding a surrounding area of where we all call home and what home provides and with Isabella having a vegetable-dominated diet took a particular interest in the snow country chef. With much due respect Keiko would slice through the challenges of being in a male dominated field and Isabella had her praises about that. 

Those who ate at the establishment couldn’t help but be inspired in a way that encouraged creation and discovery as traveling through the array of dishes from “the chef” who would cook in the back. An upcoming batch of cooks saw the dishes coming from the kitchen at Satoyama Jujo as a bladed snow plow clearing forward the heaviest snow for others who wanted to plant their crop for the next harvest. These snow plowers have acquired an know-how of the food landscape of what surrounds them and shifts the process of creation to be objectively limited to the region that has less touches of global influences. This sturdy maple tree trunk of a chef is also in contrast an inward looking out way of life studying world traveler.

Returning to Niigata she would have a no waste mindset as she remembers her grandma insisted on not wasting even a single grain of rice and reminded her of the toil and sacrifice it took to grow the rice. Her Grandma grew up in a village where resources were few and snow blanketed the ground for five months out of the year, so this was kept in mind as a memory that she would think of even when cooking for her guests. In her kitchen she would craft seasonal kaiseki menus celebrating her home prefecture. 

Natural Unexpected Lessons

Life is full of the unexpected and that is because life is always moving even when it feels like it is frozen in time. When people communicate that in itself can be unexpected and that could lead to interesting things even if a person finds themselves in a strange situation that was not quite what they had in mind. The world has all sorts of things to discover and it makes you feel like you want to go everywhere where the discovery is endless, because the places that are visited are constantly evolving and changing to make travel feel as if there is no end to the unknown excitement. That too is unexpected, because when people travel and want to go to a place they want to experience something that has become known to them, but revisiting a place is a feeling of reflection on your own journey, appreciating the changes, and then seeing the familiar in a fresh way. The eyes that have seen past Travel itself starts to see that at its core the destinations are all about a deeper exploration and that sort of insight creates a deeper exploration in what we all call home, what we reflect on in our journey, and where we take root and choose to grow.

That growth isn’t always planned and while it can be unexpected and challenging, it also adds a layer of excitement through another way of understanding, and thus the possibilities to life. It can force us to adapt, grow, and discover new things about ourselves and the world around us. Or it can do the opposite where we can choose to ignore, stagnate, and not listen to our surroundings and feel as if the world is closing in. When a person chooses to accept the natural learning process they arrive at a point where they are looking to learn about who they are and how they were unexpectedly grown from the natural surroundings of the environment, place in the world, and home because it is as exciting a place as any other place of travel.

A Story of the Residents' Idea of Beauty

Long term resident congratulates a new resident of the village by telling them about the mountains and their beauty and that the mountain is part of what they own and are responsible for. The new resident cooks and took a person from the city who is traveling in the area to see what they think of their great and beautiful mountain of green and white and they are not sure what is special about the mountain and can’t seem to fathom why anyone would see beauty in it other than being another mountain in Japan. The resident takes a family member who lives in Niigata who has dreams and aspirations of moving to Tokyo to see things that are very new and urban, but they take them anyways and they think that the countryside is old and uninteresting with no beauty, but a sense of barreness to it. The new resident was confused and went back to the long term resident who said to take someone from a passionate social media group to show them the mountain and the new resident goes on to take someone who really loves Niigata from overseas. The new resident returned to the long term resident the next day and told them that the beauty of the mountain is unique and that nothing will be able to match its charm, then the long term resident said they wanted to let the new resident know a message. That message was that the worth of yourself may be zero if you are in the wrong place with the wrong people, but if you are in the right place with the right people you become appreciated. 

“Don’t take others comments as something to be angry, but it means your in the wrong place with people who can’t see whats right over whats wrong. Don’t stay inn a place where no one sees the value of the place or you. Know the worth of where you are and where you are valued”.

Traveling Rootless Grass

Not to sit around and wait for life to happen, Keiko went to capture the essence of exploration through searching earnestly for something by putting effort into looking at the unknown and making it something known. By doing this she would discover things that she didn’t previously know and that would open up the world a little bit and as more became uncovered the more she would know. It would be quite a surprise, one after another there were things that were found that couldn’t possibly be imagined by just waiting for life to happen. She was sure that traveling around the world was the path she wanted and she was sure she would continue traveling without returning to Japan. There was a time when she thought somewhere in her heart, "I don't want to return to Japan."

During Keiko’s travels she had a drive to look for something new, that included new things to learn, and something new from the culture and place. It was about finding something and adding that something new to become a part of her life. But something interesting happens when traveling to other countries to see cultural contrasts. It throws off the familiar that a traveler is looking for in their excitement of the new, but then it makes you question cultural norms and values, and while the traveling is exciting the experiences lead to an internal question of country identity. Travel polishes away the layers of self by making a person clearly aware of their strengths and weaknesses in an unfamiliar situation and a culture that is clearly not their own. Looking at another place with people from another country and food with its social customs it challenges preconceptions and is transformative. In that way its much more about self-discovery than solely being for travel-discovery. 

People from overseas are very interested in where a person is from and especially Japan. Being from Japan and knowing about it are different, so when people ask them about this "unknown world" of a small island nation in the Far East the realization of “Ah i didn’t know much about Japan”. They wanted to know about "ordinary Japan", they wanted to know about the "ordinary" of this country, not anything special, not only travel destinations and many will come to find out they won’t be able to answer them. This begs the question that could make someone feel like an outsider both in their home country and even traveling abroad. It is an inability to fulfill expectations that a person is aware enough to know about their own culture, until they go back where they call home and talk about Japan in the normal way. Saying, "This is how it is," or "This is what we have here." a person realizes that in order to be able to express themselves, Japan (home country), and Niigata (rooted home), and "this place," there are some things you can't understand unless you make it your home and live there for a long time by rooting yourself into the area directly by living there.

Having the search to be a turning point, leading her to a life that aligns with her values, and the concept looks to create and preserve for further understanding. The purpose of the pursuit to her is how people live and deepened by what they care about as she has observed from their “Humanity” of genuine connections and understanding, “Health” that brings well-being and a boost to the mood, and seeing the “Beauty” in the aesthetic as well as in the journey itself from a world found within oneself. These three things are humanity, health, and beauty that she seeks to integrate those values into her way of living as a chosen path as a chef who crafts dishes that have those values instilled in them. This code provides a framework for a purposeful life by making a system of values based on her beliefs that guides her actions and decisions. Following this sort of code for Keiko shows purpose and anything less could be seen as still being in the process of searching. 

While searching, exploring, and newness has its own pluses it is very different from proposing, pursuing, and stillness. While exploring is valuable, the purpose of life comes from living a life aligned to your chosen values, thus how life can be endless as the search with no decision of life values. A state of "stillness", can be in the sense of having a guiding system that has a person rooted in those values that can only be possible after the person comes to the conclusion of what they value. It seems it's all from being interested in the human being themself with a foundation of questions, like: What is life to people? What is the purpose of people living? What is the purpose of earning money for people? And those sort of questions can help bring ideas to form an idea of one's own meaning of existence. Those who might not be curious about how others live, but understanding that can help them see why they decide to live the way they do, and then from that finding their values.

“Life can take unexpected turns, and sometimes our desires lead us in one direction but something happens that's not expected. However, a change in direction doesn't mean that the desire was wrong. Instead, it can be a time to feel grateful for being nudged in a better direction…”

The Sacred Lid to Life

This class brought together advanced students from all over the world, was under the category of philosophy and was two months long to ponder: "What is yoga?",  "How do I express my existence?", "This is what I think", and confirmation to the self of “I’m Happy” and then put emotions into words to self-define what is the feeling of happiness. The lectures were all in English with a multinational cohort of many non-English speaking areas. She started to feel that the ability to express oneself through the filter of language is a problem on a different level as in Speaking itself other than simply the ability of English speaking. Getting through the lesson would take a really long time because the class had to put into words what each of them defined as  "being happy" and that was harder than any language barrier. This would lead to the realization that there would be other ways to express oneself than speaking and lead to the question “What are the different ways to express yourself?”. 

It was harder because even when Keiko spoke in Japanese with someone who understood Japanese she thought, "This is what I thought and said, so I'm sure they'll understand", but the words she said didn't get through to them at all. This learned reality that words can have a completely different meaning when they are filtered by "others", from their cultural background, life experiences, expectations and personalized biases to interpret words in all sorts of ways that the speaker didn’t intend to mean at all. 

Keiko was wondering what she was doing at first as she was struggling. It was tough, because she would realize there are multiple selves that exist inside herself. It was like trying to open a stuck-lid when trying endlessly to break the thoughts and emotions down into words and the lid was something Keiko didn’t want to open. The experience during those two months made her well aware that she was facing herself and at that point she was able to open the lid that she didn’t want to open. The reason she chose to open the lid was that she realized that in order to “live” she can not live without “others” to interact with and these “others” cannot live alone”. It really was like opening a lid to life where she went on to understand the reality of things that when she communicated with "others", there are multiple filters that are placed on them. The introspection forced her to confront different aspects of her personality, which were challenging but ultimately led to her growth.

Around that time, the challenges of communication and the limitations of language she experienced could have made Keiko question the values and priorities of the secular world. Perhaps the focus on material things and daily routines felt less meaningful after her self-discovery she would begin to feel different. She had begun to feel that she did not want to return to the secular world, because she was starting to question secular values and the priorities of the secular world that started to feel less meaningful in comparison. With the program transformation Keiko had a well of desire for self-improvement and started to think more about being in a secluded environment and leaning towards becoming a ultimate master of something to escape those aspects of life. But the teacher told Keiko…

"You could retreat to the mountains, quietly pursue the truth by yourself, and spend the rest of your life there. But surely there is also a way of life in which you live together with "others" and hone yourself."

It was almost as if the teacher could feel and hear what Keiko was thinking that brought up other ideas. Isolation vs connection to suggest there is a way to live with “others” while pursuing self improvement challenging Keikos idea for ultimate mastery. The practices of Yoga and the teachers word’s would promote the ideals of balance with ideas of individual growth with the connection and contributions to others. With those words having a deep meaning as if the teacher was implying that true mastery involves sharing knowledge and honing one's skills while interacting with others. Absorbing knowledge and sharing her knowledge could help others on their own journeys and with their own self-discoveries with connection while contributing to others. The teacher's words would offer a powerful perspective that would lead Keiko to what she decided was a much more meaningful life path.

Keiko's focus on the question "What does it mean to live?" shows she's a contemplative person who seeks deeper meaning in life. Returning to Satoyama has sparked a philosophical exploration. What is life? What truly matters in life? What are the core values and principles in life? What beliefs do we hold? And the questions would keep on coming the deeper Keiko was in thought. It would eventually lead her to an intense desire to go to India where she would return with a new approach to health and well-being, bridging the gap between traditional Japanese practices, and share her insights to inspire others to consider a broader definition of health.

The Natural World

Keiko Kuwakino would have to determine for herself what a return to the natural world would be  as life before prioritizing practical concerns, daily routines, and logic over spiritual exploration. Openness to ideas of a philosophy that includes the inner spirit for a deeper understanding into existing philosophical pursuits to open the mind to possibly answer the unanswered. For what answers are missing she turned to nature and that's where she would find many of her answers from the mountains and the forest, but that wouldn’t be without the help of a knowledgeable man of the forest named “Murayama Tatsuzo” who had been driving Taxis in the area for fifty years, but he knows all sorts of things about alpine plants and forest foraging with the memory of exactly where to go to find the local ecosystem. 

 

Returning to the natural world with the beauty and peace of nature have inspired her to contemplate the purpose of existence and humanity's place within it. Instead of withdrawing from the world through mastery she had decided that she is interested in people and would  rather seek answers through her interactions with others from masters of their craft to those who naturally are obtaining information from all sorts of people like those in customer service. Keiko believes people can offer insights into the meaning of life through their stories, experiences, and perspectives, but all sorts of people have a place in the world. Keiko uses her interest in people to create a space for conversations about life's meaning within her community.

Becoming Rooted

When going somewhere it was important to Keiko that she still be able to do what she wanted and to do what she wanted while with others and seeing how that could also continue in the future. 

Satoyama Junja is a old hotel made from a renovated 150 years old farmer’s house. There is a room that 

Sansai Mountain vegetable are becoming popular in Japan and the sprouting season is spring it is associated to the spring season, but those who live in the area where the growth of mountain vegetables is much longer the people living there take advantage of that in Niigata. The community doesn’t only go to the mountain to find mountain vegetables during the spring season, but there are mountain seasons. There is a spring mountain season, summer mountain season, fall mountain season, and winter mountain season, and that is an assortment of ingredients that are found on the mountain throughout the year is what inspires the cooking. Branch out from the mountain and a larger picture of nature appears and that is what inspires a lot of the dishes rooted in the community from what grows in the area.

Keiko believes her cuisine is inspired by nature by respecting nature and being in nature that includes the mountain and because of nature and the mountain the cooking of the area is possible. When she goes to the mountain she goes to observe the seasonal changes to gauge what she is going to be looking for during her visit to the mountain. There has been such a transition to large scale commercial farming the more unique and smaller plants that taste really good have become few and far between with having those flavors becoming rare and not so common. Not many places still grow or look for wild vegetables or try to make those vegetables commercial and protect them too. 

Every single ingredient is learned about from others who live with the ingredient and that is what brings her deep respect for each ingredient she uses in her cooking. 

The natural flavor of the water is very important and it is soft from the trees holding the rain water for 20 to 30 years and that supplies the spring water that has a light sweetness, a gentle taste, and it is unique to the flavor of the area based on the trees to the water flow to the melting snow and the climate. Each place that has its nature in tact has different flavors and those are what is the taste of nature of an area that is necessary for a region to thrive through whats natural. 

mastered various techniques and incorporated them into her dishes. She has developed a deep, affective bond with this land and its people. How many people in this world can truly appreciate the stories behind food? 

It starts to snow in December, and then for the next half a year the snow continues to come down and this sort of knowledge even now is still being learned about. The mountain plants that grow from under the snow have a different flavor than those that grow on top of the snow. Of course the fact that the flavor is completely different is a feeling. Because there is what french call a terroir that has to do with the complete environment of: soil, topography, climate, and so on that affect flavors and this goes along with the culinary culture that is an area too that defines certain flavor choices. That snow country or Yukiguni, and the Uonuma region have something to be proud of. The groups in the area willingly protect the environment, the culture of the mountains, and the connection between those mountains to the oceans. The reason is that it is great to discover more about things like this, to learn it, and to communicate it, and be able to reflect it in the dishes that are created by those in the area. 

Creators are in Niigata

So, because cooks are creating ideas in Niigata, in this place, right here where things are growing, then the natural environment, the culture, and the history all play an important role I think. Being in a place where something is growing is because it has been the building blocks of its unique identity that sticks around and innovates, but the way people have adapted to the lands is different. The lands are still here, so the foundation of such creative work can thrive in the culinary sense. With just one step out into the mountains there is a great deal to be learned.  Creating things that separate the City from a massive place has urban richness, history, and culture. The focus in the city is broader on commercial trends, global interest, and a diverse media driven environment, but even Niigata City looks for a line in between to make sure it doesn’t lose its identity. Niigata offers a fertile ground for inspiration and that's what makes it such a great place to make delicious dishes.

Creating something in a city like a metropolitan city like Tokyo for example might involve drawing inspiration from a wider range of sources, not necessarily tied to the immediate surroundings or the immediate people with super high tourism. It could be international trends, historical periods from anywhere in the world, or even completely abstract concepts. Imagine creating a dish. In Niigata, you'd naturally turn to the freshest local ingredients like fish from the Sea of Japan and Koshihikari rice. In Tokyo, you might have access to a wider variety of ingredients and have just about no limitations, the rules are what expression a person wants and pays for the bills, the audience is from all over the world, allowing for a more globally inspired dish that can even be abstract if a person wants it too. But in Niigata there is a process of region tradition first to serve the land, seasonal sustainability for a cycle, local innovation next to gather community, creator expression for a creative outlet, and then global audiences satisfaction for a growing economy.

Developed Code of Life

What does it mean to "serve food locally"? Keiko wanted to stay grounded and devote herself to cooking while pursuing its essence. The greatness of nature, the love of the chef. She took it all and put it into her cooking. It's not just about cooking, it's about working in a natural environment, connecting with local people and producers, and supporting each other that makes it Niigata Cuisine. That's what got her interested in Jiyujin. It was the idea of ​​local gastronomy that really suited her approach to food, which is not just about health and deliciousness, and it fit perfectly with what she valued in life that was the life of the area. However, she didn't go to culinary school, didn't have the prestige or names behind her, and she had never thought about becoming a chef. When Keiko was traveling overseas, she came into contact with food as a way to communicate without using words, and she worked in restaurants, and with that the people could communicated with the language of food.

She joined the company thinking, "Maybe I can do it as an assistant." A while after she started working, she really wanted to study herbs, so she went to a restaurant in Malaysia for about three months. The things she learned there, she was allowed to be selfish, and those teachings are still a treasure to her today. It wasn't until a sudden turn of events happened that on the return to Japan she heard "Kuwakino, you're the head chef".  She had to be honest with herself, so she was and that was where there was a feeling of extremely nervousness came about. She knew in her heart that she lacked both knowledge and experience. Meanwhile, Satoyama Jyujyo has become like a great inn in the world. She trembled every time she stood in the kitchen. However, Keiko told herself that she couldn't quit now, so she came earlier than anyone else and stayed longer than anyone else. Improving her techniques, her skills, and displayed great work ethic. It was a way to try and erase the anxiety and the thing that actually helped wasn't only working, but the support in her desperate efforts through the dialogue of speaking to people and embracing nature. She would go out to pick wild plants herself, and she always picked up vegetables in nearby fields. And in winter, she used the snow rooms and fermentation rooms. She really communicated with farmers and nature 365 days a year. After 10 years since she came there she is still moved by the snow scenery and land which makes her say say, "Oh, it's beautiful," and she feels that she is supported by the time she visited farmers' houses and talk to them over tea.

"Cooking has recipes, and if you want to imitate the appearance or shape, you can do whatever you want, but I feel that the essence is not like that. I think that living, eating, and living are all connected, and I don't think that I'm the only one who cooks. There is the earth that grows food, there are the cooks, and the food that is completed at the end of various baton relays is a miracle, I feel every day. I know the history of the ingredients, always meet the cooks, and see how they were grown. Only when my feelings are put on it can I cook. As a result, I have received evaluations from the Michelin Guide and Gault & Millau, which has led to a little confidence. But after all, it is a simple but heartfelt happiness to have people say that the food we all completed is delicious." -Keiko Kuwakino

Preserving food is part of the culture in Niigata, and the locals have so much knowledge to impart. It is really amazing and is definitely something that needs to be passed on, Keiko believes. This kind of culture isn’t found overseas: pickling in salt and fermentation are used, but not as a matter of survival, or to be able to live in extreme conditions. To have this kind of knowledge is something really impressive.