From Intangible to Tangible with Momoko Nakamura

“Humans have a connection with ideas but they have a stronger connection with things, they have a [even] stronger connection to people. People ultimately like people.”

Summary of Episode:

Jenn speaks to Tokyo bred, global citizen, Kyoto based, Momoko Nakamura (Momo) founder of Kyoto Research Institute. From her young memories of Japanese cookery at home, to her studies in microbiotics and traditional medicinal cooking, food television career in the US, to now returning to her roots in Japan and creating a company that is dedicated to researching, educating and preserving Japanese materials, Momo has been sharing her knowledge with the world, communicating the intangible in tangible ways. She shares with us what she means by intangible to tangible, her passion in the work she is doing, and the ups and downs that she has encountered along the way.

If you see someone cooking up a storm in the kitchen, you can’t smell it you can’t taste it, but somehow it inspires you to make that dish at home, that is converting intangible to the tangible. 

About Momoko Nakamura:

Momoko leads Kyoto Research Institute, dedicated to the study of heritage Japanese materials. Her interest in fieldwork across the archipelago is rooted in over 20 years of communicating and educating on cookery culture and the food system. The Institute’s research now extends beyond food, exploring a wide spectrum of the materials that create Japanese living, and shares these learnings in the form of educational programming, products, and publishing.

Episode Resources:

Website / IG / Maana Retreats / Becoming Supernatural: How Common People Are Doing the Uncommon