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JAPAN: FOOD AS FETISH

Season 2 Episode 201 | 26m 47s

Exploring American manifestations of otaku, the Japanese trope that combines cutting-edge pop culture with fetishistic obsession, Danielle visits New York’s first cat cafe; a Brooklyn izakaya run by a Frenchman in thrall to Japanese anime and manga; and a California suburban mom who’s a star on the international bento-box circuit. Danielle gets in the sumo ring with a 600-pound opponent.

Aired: 05/01/17 | Expires: 05/01/29
Distributed nationally by American Public Television
Extras
Celebrate the life and career of Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver.
A Georgia farm keeps the produce coming year-round by planting and harvesting in different locations
Soybeans may soon be part of the asphalt beneath you.
A Vermont couple finds new ways to better protect their land from drought and floods.
An Iowa farm thrives as one of the state’s few Black-owned farms.
Preview: 250 Years of Americana
See how college students are turning soybeans into new products like baby wipes.
A California farmer shares easy-to-grow mushrooms with giftable box kits.
A Minnesota farm family plants a new kind of wheat that restores the soil and saves water.
A Montana rancher honors his ancestors, and Mother Earth, by restoring native grasses to his land.
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In Italy, Chinese and Italian cuisines collide and reveal a shared love of food and hospitality.
In Copenhagen, Asian chefs apply New Nordic seasonality to dishes shaped by their histories.
In Paris, pho, coffee, and bánh mì reveal a Vietnamese history beneath the surface.
Berlin turns Asian food into art shaped by performance, craft, and creativity.
In London, tea, spices, and peppers tell the story of the British Empire.
Across Taiwan, artisans produce staples like soy sauce, hot sauce, tofu & rice in hand-crafted ways.
A lot of cities claim to never sleep, but Taipei makes good on that promise.
Taiwan’s earthly obsession with food has a spiritual dimension as an offering to gods and ancestors.
Taiwan is steeped in tea, as a beverage, a ritual and a way of life.
All around the island, cooks find ways to reinvent and keep alive traditional Taiwanese dishes.