Drop-in Docs: Three films by Shohei Shibata

Saturday afternoon drop-in film series: Three films by Shohei Shibata

Stop by our seminar room on Saturday, July 23 and Saturday, August 6 for screenings of three award-winning documentaries by Shohei Shibata. Stay for one, two or all three films!
Free admission, no reservation required.

Dashi, Essence of Japan & Shoyu and the Secrets of Japanese Cuisine
2015 Shizuo Tsuji Award of Gastronomy, Japan
2014 2nd Prize, Japanese Documentary award, 88th Kinema-Junpo Movie Awards, Japan
2014 Outstanding Documentary of the Year, Association of All Japan TV Program Production
2014 Ministry of Communications Prize, Japan.

Grandma’s Eternal Forest
2013 Best Anthropology Concern Award,  SICHUAN TV FESTIVAL, China 
2013 Best Japanese Environmental Film, Japan Wildlife Film Festival, Toyama, Japan 
2012 Honorable Mention for Cinematography, CINE Film Festival, Montana, USA
2012 Silver Prize, Documentary Category selected by Hoso Bunka Foundation (HBF), Japan

Japan, Man and Nature in Harmony: Dashi, Essence of Japan

2014, 49 minutes, English and Japanese with English subtitles

For centuries, the Japanese have learned to draw from the treasures of nature; their cuisine distills the very best from the country’s oceans, mountains and forests. Dashi is the bedrock of Japanese cuisine. Deceptively simple, master chefs have jealously guarded its secrets for centuries. Its development came about as a result of a historical event that triggered a “food revolution”: Buddhism arrived in Japan 1500 years ago, prohibiting the consumption of meat. The Japanese quickly sought other sources of umami taste and found it in dashi.

Saturday, July 23 and Saturday, August 6: 1:00 pm SEMINAR ROOM

Japan, Man and Nature in Harmony: Shoyu and the Secrets of Japanese Cuisine

2014, 49 minutes, English and Japanese with English subtitles

The Japanese discovered that a humble mould spore could transform soya beans into shoyu, the soy sauce that is a pillar of Japanese cuisine. Sprinkle it on rice and the rice changes into sake… This mould is a tiny organism called Aspergillus oryzae and mysteriously, it exists only in Japan! We travel to the imperial city of Kyoto, where the ancient craft of brewing shoyu is preserved. This delicate process begins in spring and requires a whole year to mature the soy sauce. The shoyu brewer knows it is all a question of balance and harmony…

Saturday, July 23 and Saturday, August 6: 2:00 pm SEMINAR ROOM

Grandma’s Eternal Forest

2012, 49 minutes, English and Japanese with English subtitles

Grandma Kuniko Shiiba, aged 87, is an amazing lady: she is the last person in Japan who continues to practice a traditional and sustainable form of slash-and-burn agriculture that dates back more than 4000 years. After clearing a section of her forest, she grows four successive yearly crops of buckwheat, Japanese millet, adzuki beans and soybeans, then lets forest grow wild again for 26 years before starting a new crop cycle. For a whole year in her forest, we learn from Kuniko about medicinal plants, mountain and fire spirits, the cycle of life and the forest’s unique regenerative powers.

Saturday, July 23 and Saturday, August 6: 3:00 pm SEMINAR ROOM