Amami Oshima, an island about 1,300 km south of Tokyo.

I think chefs are on an endless
quest for new ingredients.

It's our profession, our livelihood.

This man is today's guest.

Namae Shinobu is a chef of French cuisine.

He's gaining attention in the world of gastronomy.

His dishes reflect Japan's rich and varied climate and terrain, as well as his personal beliefs.

Namae is a strong advocate of sustainable environmental practices.

His efforts resulted in an invitation to speak at the UN.

Revitalization of seaweed, forest, and, global warming cannot be considered separately.

So through my cooking, I hope to spark people's awareness and start a discussion

about its importance over delicious dishes with various seaweeds.

Namae visits producers around Japan to learn about specific ingredients

and the changing environments in which they are being raised.

It's delicious.

By engaging with producers on his travels,

he believes he can create dishes that raise environmental awareness.

His products are a testament
to his skills and knowledge.

There's a lot to learn from him.

I've never felt such a strong
connection with a producer before.

Our host Robert Campbell accompanies Namae on one of his journeys

to understand his passion for forging connections and creating eco-friendly food for the future.

You like to travel?

I like people, so I like
meeting different people.

So, it's the people?

Yes, I'm interested in their daily
lives, their thoughts and feelings.

I get along well with producers
who are passionate about food.

People who find pleasure in food
create tasty products or crops.

I'll ask about good local food.
Any type of cuisine.

Some may rave about a ramen
joint in the neighborhood.

The deciding factor for me is
if they're interested in good food.

Namae has come to the island of Amami Oshima, registered as a World Natural Heritage site in 2021.

It's a subtropical island home to a wide array of plants and animals.

Drawn to Amami's unique food culture, Namae is a frequent visitor here.

- Here we are.
- Thank you.

They've come to visit a sugarcane farmer who makes kokuto brown sugar.

Kano-san!

Welcome back!

Nice to meet you.

- I'm Kano.
- I'm Robert Campbell.

Kano Tatsuro produces kokuto.

This brown sugar has been made on Amami Oshima for more than 400 years.

Namae is fascinated by Kano's kokuto and hopes to use it in his cooking.

But because production is limited, he'll have to wait another year.

You want a taste?

Here you go.

It's warm.

It looks delicious.

A deep and complex flavor.

- Good, right?
- Oh, yes.

It's sweet and salty.

A hint of bitterness.

Yes, and a a slight tartness
and a little acidity.

It's not a cloying sweetness.

It's perfectly balanced.

Many chefs have no idea
how sugar is produced.

Sweetness is one of
the five basic flavors.

But I know very little about it.

The pressed sugarcane juice
is simmered for five hours.

Do you feel inspired or invigorated
by experiences like this?

The memories of preparing the raw
ingredients are reflected in my food.

I appreciate how much time and
effort goes into production.

And how it relies on so many
unstable factors.

It's their way of life.

In the city, if you need sugar,
you just go and buy it.

There's a stable supply.

Convenience is great.

But it can dull curiosity
and stop us from asking questions.

Kano and his wife Junko work as a team.

Experience is key to knowing when to remove the concentrated sugary liquid from the heat.

Beautiful. Such color and luster.

This process is carried out every day during the harvest season, from winter to spring.

Namae says the secret to Kano's flavorful kokuto lies in his fields.

Like this. The ends are replanted
to seed new canes.

This becomes fertilizer.
Sugarcane leaves a lot of "leftovers."

So, give it a try.

Around here?

It's tough.

Not a clean cut.

That's the seed part.

This can be fed to cows.

I leave it for compost.

Sugarcane improves the soil.

I just leave these parts in the fields.

The roots extend 2 meters down.

Far below.

So this becomes compost
without any processing?

Yes, I let different organisms
come and break it down.

Kano relies on the resilience of nature to grow sugarcane organically.

Also, he doesn't till the fields.

Farming in this way allows carbon to be captured in the soil.

This enriches the soil quality while reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

This type of regenerative agriculture is attracting attention worldwide.

You don't till the soil, and
you don't add any fertilizer.

Keeping carbon in the soil is one of
the solutions to global warming.

Modern farms often use
too much fertilizer.

Your fertilizer-free approach
is a sustainable way of farming.

What seems traditional
is actually futuristic.

Obviously, I'm a big fan of your delicious,
high-grade kokuto.

But I'm also impressed by
your farming approach.

It's sustainable. Good for
our health and for the planet.

I'm fascinated by what you're doing.

I understand you visit producers
like Kano-san regularly.

What have these visits taught you?

How do you apply your leaning at
your restaurant, L'Effervescence?

My customers have never seen
his fields.

So I try to describe them.

By avoiding weeding, he allows
the soil to maintain its fertility.

And through that, he's helping
to reduce greenhouse gases.

Agriculture isn't just about food.

It can promote carbon sequestration,
clean air, and biodiversity.

It can have secondary
and tertiary benefits.

We may not be aware of this,
but we benefit from it.

I want my customers to know this.

Namae became aware of the connection between food and nature in his early thirties,

during his apprenticeship with celebrated French chef Michel Bras.

He began to reflect on the people and environment behind the ingredients he was cooking.

His impressions and insights from his travels are reflected in his unique culinary creations.

Each dish he creates highlights the one-on-one connections he's established with producers.

The trimming are log-cultivated
shiitake mushrooms.

Tree logs are sown with
shiitake spores and left outdoors.

Every bite of the shiitake from
Amami is bursting with flavor.

They're my favorite.

You can look and think about food
from multiple perspectives.

What is the role of a chef?

We work within the larger
framework of food systems.

We procure, process, use,
taste, and test food.

We're intermediaries between
producers and our customers.

We need to maintain meaningful
connections in both directions.

But we tend to focus on customers.

Because business depends on them.

Instead, I try to create dishes
that will make the producers happy.

We need a new mindset today.

Chefs need to design and edit
their creations to please both sides.

I believe this will help create
a positive cycle.

In 2021, Namae began graduate-level research at the University of Tokyo

on how the restaurant industry can contribute to society.

He's also taken up scuba diving to raise awareness on changes in the ocean's ecosystem,

as well as the impact of global warming.

Along with fishers and free divers,

he participates in food-focused workshops for kids to teach them the value and importance of the ocean.

His activities have won international recognition,

and in 2022, he was invited to speak at the UN headquarters.

I hope that by creating new recipes, the owner, the unique nature of seaweed,

we can connect people's consciousness and invite them to embrace a common goal towards ocean revitalization.

Thank you very much.

Your master's thesis was about how
people evaluate deliciousness.

What they look for.

Why pursue a question so directly
related to your work?

It all started with the pandemic.

People were urged to stay home
and go out only when necessary.

I was made aware that restaurants
were not considered essential.

So what social value do the people
who work in restaurants have?

It felt like an important question.

The best place for a comparative
assessment was grad school.

As a chef, you decide what to buy,
how to cook, plate, and serve food.

How did your studies
affect your work?

I already had a decent feel
for what to do.

But it was a feeling, not proof.

Grad school showed me how our work,
how food affects health.

It's also closely connected
to the environment.

The industry needs to fulfill
its roles and responsibilities.

My graduate school research allowed
me to confirm what these were.

What determines our perception
of deliciousness?

Having studied this subject,
what are your thoughts now?

I think the perception of delicious
food encompasses diverse values.

There's too many to count.

And how we weight these values
depends on the individual.

Our bodies, personalities,
mindsets.

Infinite factors make the pursuit
of good food fascinating.

But it's a never-ending jourmey.

I know veteran chefs
who are in their 90s.

They still talk about their dreams
of exploring uncharted territory.

They make me realize that I'll be
pursuing this theme forever.

I feel more motivated.

There's an ingredient being grown on Amami Oshima for the first time,

and Namae is excited to try it.

This is the farm from which
I hope to procure vanilla.

This is the island's very first vanilla farm.

Though its crops aren't ready to be sold yet,

the farm holds great potential for the island's future.

Come in.

These will all
produce vanilla beans.

I have about 1,700 vanilla plants.

I hope to sell beans to French cuisine
and pastry chefs around Japan.

Is vanilla a nativa plant of Amami?

No, Japan imports nearly 100%
of its vanilla.

But Okinawa has started
to grow vanilla.

Namae-san, what sparked your
interest in the vanilla here?

I had no idea that vanilla
could be cultuvated in Japan.

Nearly 100% of my restaurant's
ingredients are from Japan.

But we realy on imported vanilla for
our pastries and desserts.

It was frustrating.

That's when I heard someone was
growing vanilla on Amami.

When people talk about innovation
in industry, they often mean IT.

But this isn't about tech.
It's wild, it's natural.

You're shaping a new, natural
industry. That's innovation.

Hayashi Shintaro is a native of Amami Oshima.

He started his vanilla farm in 2022.

Before that, he was an officer at the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries.

His encounter with vanilla came while on a diplomatic mission to Tanzania.

I visited
a vanilla farming project.

I felt like I was back in Amami!

Amidst the banana trees and
papayas were vanilla plants.

I thought maybe we could do
this in Amami, too.

You discovered vanilla growing
in familiar surroundings?

What an organic connection!

I quit to become a vanilla farmer.

But it's still helping
society through agriculture.

So that hasn't changed much.

Growing vanilla here will make
people in Japan happy.

The farming population
is declining and aging.

But vanilla is not
a labor-intensive crop.

It's a friendly crop for both
elderly and novice farmers.

Amami is a remote island, so we
need to think about distribution.

Last summer, I was stranded in
Okinawa because of a typhoon.

Distribution came to
a halt in Amami, too.

Perishable goods went to waste.

But vanilla can be processed into
value-added products that keep.

It will provide
a stable source of income.

It's a crop that meets the criteria
for sustainable farming in Amami.

That's the way I see it.

If I can establish a stable system,
other farmers will follow suit.

I believe Amami will become famous
for its vanilla.

I think it's important to provide
farmers with solid options.

Vanilla fits the bill.

Hayashi is hoping to harvest his first crop of vanilla in early 2025.

- I love the vanilla.
- Great!

Delicious!

Hayashi hopes to create more dishes with local Amami vanilla.

I was impressed by
the two farmers we visited.

But their work can't scale up.

Using their products at your
restaurant will raise their profile.

But they can't supply chain
restaurants or supermarkets.

It's not something that can
cause a paradigm shift.

But showing they exist,
showcasing their work is vital.

It puts sustainable, high-quality,
delicious options out there.

It's proof these things exist.

You've managed to connect with
producers like Kano-san.

How do we link their work
to ordinary, everyday lives?

How can we establish stronger ties
with sustainable producers?

I think it depends very much
on future generations.

It's increasingly important that kids
know where our food comes from.

Chefs can play a role in creating
food-based experiences for them.

There's so much more to food than
a one-size-fits-all approach.

I think it's important to encourage them to
explore the possibilities.

The terrain in Amami varies
from north to south.

Same goes for Japan as a whole.
Up north it's -15°C and snowing.

Whereas down south, we have
subtropical islands.

This diversity is one of
Japan's key features.

It offers us so much to learn.

I want people to learn how to enjoy
and cherish diversity in food.

Yes, each country has something
different to offer.

Exploring that on foot
or through food is key.

It's truly a never-ending journey.

- Thank you for your time.
- My pleasure.