Creators of “The Shokudo” series that inspired the “Showa Alley by the Shokudo” event, from left: videographer Luke Uyeda, the show’s chef and host Jon Kenzo Okeya, and producer and co-host Michael Murata.
By KATHEE YAMAMOTO
Rafu Contributor
GARDENA — “The Shokudo” video series, inspired by the Netflix series “Midnight Diner,” premiered during the pandemic, created by Michael Murata, Jon Kenzo Okeya and Luke Uyeda as a way to explore how Asian American culture deeply connects with food.
The name refers to casual mom-and-pop, hole-in-the-wall restaurants that serve a variety of Japanese dishes.
Okeya had designed his own shokudo where episodes, which include community guests, feature conversations around and cooking demonstrations of udon, persimmon (kaki), Spam musubi, pakkai and other food.
A replica of a Japanese yokocho, a narrow atmospheric alleyway filled with tiny eateries and shops, was created for the event.
The “Shokudo” creators were inspired to expand the vision of the video series with an event on May 11, “Showa Alley by the Shokudo,” which replicated a yokocho at the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute as a benefit for both the GVJCI and the Grateful Crane Ensemble.
Grateful Crane founder and executive director Soji Kashiwagi praised this first-time event: “Much of the focus of our YouTube series ‘The Shokudo’ has been three Yonsei’s search for their Japanese American/Japanese identity through the food we grew up with, and the family and friends who have prepared it. Michael Murata, Jon Kenzo Okeya and Luke Uyeda took things to a whole new level … with their fun, immersive and delicious cultural experience held at the Gardena Valley JCI.
Yuujou Daiko, which is based at the Gardena Valley Japanese Cultural Institute, performed.
“From the scent of teriyaki wafting through the air to the sounds of taiko, koto and Okinawan sanshin to the sights of beautifully designed and decorated Japanese-style festival booths and the taste of Uka sake and chicken yakitori hot off the grill, it was an event that engaged all the senses and felt like a walk-back to the yokocho of Showa era Japan.
“Most of all, it was a lot of fun for the 450 people who supported the event.”
“The Shokudo” series can be viewed on the Grateful Crane Ensemble’s YouTube Channel.