Graduates of Macrobiotics and Cooking School who are active in various fields, we asked them about how they started learning, what they learned at the school, and how the knowledge and ways of thinking they acquired are being used.
Shigeka Nishio
Nishio Shigeko
2012 Fall Normal Course Completed
Osaka Prefecture: Housewife
After completing the master's course, I participated in a short-term intensive cooking class in the fall, thinking that it would be a comprehensive review.It was planned to be a 5-day course for beginners, but the warm teacher's guidance and the enthusiastic and fun atmosphere of the students made me want to participate in the intermediate course, so I participated in the 10-day course for the beginner and intermediate course.
Above all, I learned it once, so it's easy to remember. The students' skin and facial expressions were shining, and I was feeling much better after 1 consecutive days.Once again, I felt the splendor of regular meals with my body.
Recently, I've been helping with macro lunches irregularly at a neighborhood store.The customers' smiles and encouragement made me very happy, and thinking about the menu made my days exciting and fun.
Being a housewife all my life, I never thought I would be able to do something like this until I graduated from the normal course.I think that going to the Japan Macrobiotic Association and being taught how to cook has opened up the world and given me wonderful dreams.I am very grateful to all the teachers.
I think that there will be many times when I fail, but I would like to study little by little without giving up.
Maki Ohira
Ohira Maki
Completed training course in 2012
Shiga Prefecture: Self-employed (“Natural Cafe Niko Niko”)
Five years ago when I first encountered macrobiotics, my body and mind have changed so much that I can't say everything in this limited space.Currently, I am living a life that I could not have imagined 5 years ago.
I'm sure you've heard someone say, "Starting macrobiotics will change your life."Occupation changed from registered dietitian to self-employed.Not to mention my body shape, hay fever and rough skin disappeared, and before I knew it, reflux esophagitis was completely cured.
Just the other day, when I checked my bone mass, it was 120% of my actual age.Lung age is the result of minus 15 years old of real age.However, I was not looking for these results, and I was just practicing what I was taught, which is strange.
I think I used to have a lot of things I wanted, but after changing my diet, I just want to cherish my limited life and do my best.Also, recently, I have come into contact with things with the mindset of "let me do it" rather than "I want to do it" on my own terms.
Finally, I believe that life is a series of choices.Eating, of course, occupation, relationship, and even my own feelings.I truly do not want to let go of the macrobiotics that I have acquired as a tool for the rest of my life.At the same time, I would like to cherish the relationships with the friends I met with the same purpose of learning, the principal of the school, and other teachers.
Nana Nitta
I met Nana
2012 Spring Normal Course Completed
Nara Prefecture: Working at a restaurant (Izumo Soba "Dandan")
After graduating from high school, I worked in a restaurant kitchen.My family used to run a restaurant, so cooking and eating was very familiar to me.
Every day at work, I eat a lot of milk, fresh cream, granulated sugar, meat, fish, etc. for tasting and serving.Of course, it was delicious, and I worked every day to become even better at cooking.I didn't spend a lot of time at home, so I rarely cooked for myself.
I happened to find a book at a bookstore, and it was about macrobiotics, pickled plums, making miso, and other traditional lifestyles.
Taking advantage of the move, I decided to go to the Japan Macrobiotic Association.I was impressed by the taste of brown rice, which I had never eaten before, and miso soup without dashi.The sweetness of the vegetables was brought out so well that I still remember getting goosebumps.
Until now, I had only focused on imported foods, but I was reminded of the wonders of traditional Japanese foods.Until now, I've always thought about "making delicious food," but after studying at Seishoku Kyokai, I've come to think, "Let's make delicious food that's good for the body."
I've quit my job now, and I'm making a brown rice vegetarian set meal at my parents' soba restaurant.This year, my family prepared 10 kg of miso.I'm looking forward to the day when I can make miso soup with handmade miso.I am planning to grow vegetables and rice.
My life changed completely after I went to Seishoku Kyokai.I am grateful to be able to work with my family, and I would like to return to the basics so that I can continue to live a healthy and happy life.
Moeko Izumimura
Izumimura Moeko
2013 Spring Normal Course Completed
Hyogo Prefecture: University student (University of Hyogo Faculty of Nursing)
Originally, I decided to go into nursing because I wanted to work overseas.However, as I was studying at university, I realized that I knew nothing about Japan. I decided to enter the school through my mother's introduction.
In the beginning, I was more interested in gaining nutritional knowledge, but as I progressed from beginner to intermediate to advanced, I learned not only about cooking, but also about how the world should be through food. I felt that I was naturally dyed in the way of thinking of regular meals that I mentioned.
Above all, the idea of adapting your body to the environment in which you live now by eating seasonal vegetables greatly changed my sense of values, which until now had to be proven by science and grounds to be correct. I think it was rocking.At the same time, I was able to realize for the first time how grateful I am for the food that my mother has been making all the time, taking great care of my health.
I personally feel that not only food but also anything can be conveyed and influenced by the invisible affection and feelings that are put into it.I am convinced that the idea of macrobiotics, which has developed into such a philosophy, will be a great foundation for me no matter what field I work in in the future.
From now on, I would like to practice how to take care of my body first, and gradually pass on the experience and knowledge I have gained from that to the people around me as I work as a midwife and nurse in the future. .
Airi Miki
Airi Miki
2012 Spring Normal Course Completed
Okayama Prefecture: Pharmacist, Maternity Aromatherapist (Aroma Salon "hare")
When I was pregnant with my daughter, I became interested in a healthy diet and learned about macrobiotics.I bought a recipe book and made macrobiotic dishes, but I couldn't make it delicious just by looking at the book, and my husband developed a macro allergy. She had an image that "Macrobiotic = not delicious, only vegetables", so she said she wanted to eat meat dishes.After researching on the Internet that this was not good, she came across the Japan Macrobiotic Association and took an intensive course after giving birth.
Surprised at how delicious the macrobiotic dishes made in the cooking class were, and impressed with the importance of food, she enrolled in the intermediate course, although it was supposed to be for beginners only.Thanks to that, my husband is now enjoying a delicious macro life, and her daughter is full of energy every day with the power of brown rice.
I also changed into a body like an iron man who never gets tired.I had heard that the advanced course was tough, but I had a strong desire to learn more, so two years later I enrolled in the advanced course and the normal course.
In addition to being a hospital pharmacist, my job is to run a maternity aroma salon that specializes in pregnant women.All the customers who come to the salon are pregnant women.Pregnancy is the time when you want to be careful about your diet, so we also hold simple macrobiotic courses.Delicious, fun and macrobiotic.I would like to tell people that if they continue, even little by little, their bodies will respond properly, and that children will grow up healthy and free from illness.
At the normal course graduation ceremony, the principal said, "Eating lasts a lifetime."As long as I continue to eat after I graduate, I want to enjoy macrobiotics for the rest of my life.
Atsushi Ueda
Atsushi Ueda
2013 spring advanced course completion
Osaka Prefecture: Noh Okura School Kotsuzumikata
My occupation is a Noh Kotsuzumi player.Since my body is the capital of my job, I had been paying attention to food and health before I joined here.When I started studying at Seishoku Kyokai, I realized that until now, I had only understood food in terms of nutritional science.
Raising awareness of food in the truest sense is not something as simple as being careful about additives, eating lots of vegetables, and refraining from meat and fat. I came to feel that it is a signpost that leads to the way people live.
Noh, which I make a living from, is not just a classical theater, but a traditional performing art that evolved from ceremonies to pray for world peace and bountiful harvests.In order for the human world to be prosperous and peaceful without conflicts, it is essential to have a bountiful harvest of grain.
Tradition is not a relic of the past, but a performing art that continues to question universal themes for us who live in the present and the future.Isn't it exactly the same as a regular meal?We believe that the traditional food culture of “seishoku”, its ideals, cooking methods, and how to eat it, are common assets of the Japanese people that should be learned and conveyed correctly, just like Nohgaku.
I have also been interested in agriculture for a long time, and I would like to study organic by all means.Noh and agriculture, a straight meal that connects them.I am grateful to have been given this kind of relationship in this modern age, when the most important things for people are taken lightly.Teachers, I look forward to your continued guidance.
Naoko Tsurumi
Naoko Tsurumi
2012 Spring Normal Course Completed
Ehime Prefecture: University student (Ehime University)
My first encounter with Seishoku was at a lecture by Tsukasa Abe and Takako Kozaki, the principal of the school, hosted by the Japan Macrobiotic Association.I remember being very moved when I heard about the horrors of the food additives that are used on a daily basis and how if you change your diet, your child will also change.
My parents have always been concerned about food safety, so I never ate hamburgers.My mother grew pesticide-free rice on the top of the terraced rice fields, and she enrolled in the Seishoku Cooking School, where she cooked meals for me. I didn't realize it was a good thing.
Then, I became interested in seishoku and wanted to make such meals myself, so I knocked on the door of the Japan Macrobiotic Association.After taking the course, I think that I have learned in my own way how to live in harmony with the universe, and what we should eat to realize that.
While studying seishoku, I wanted to hear more stories from people who are active in various places, so Fukue Nishifukue, director of Takatori Nursery School in Kyushu, and Takako Kozaki, director of Futaba Kindergarten mentioned above, wrote The Other Side of the Dining Table. We also interviewed Ms. Miho Watanabe, a reporter for Nishinippon Shimbun.While listening to various people's stories, I strongly realized that food is the basis of our lives and is deeply connected to spirituality.
I am currently in my third year at Ehime University, and I continue to have college lunch days.Everyone is surprised at first by unfamiliar dishes, but in their impressions, they say that it was very delicious.
In my graduation thesis, I plan to write about what I learned about seishoku.Through these steady activities, I would like to convey the concept of seishoku to as many people as possible.And I hope that more and more people will live healthy and authentic lives.
Kyoko Shindai
Kyoko Shindai
Completed training course in 2011
Osaka Prefecture *Currently living in Hong Kong: Hong Kong *Director of macrobiotic class
I started going to cooking school because of my family's illness and my poor health.However, in addition to cooking, I was able to gain various important things at the Seishoku Kyokai.
learning how to live.For me, it's all about "self-study, ask yourself, answer yourself".Through cooking, which uses the five senses, the scales are repeatedly noticed, thought, and learned.Before I knew it, I had learned not only how to cook, but also how to live.
Even if you look at the same thing, the way you receive it, the way you look at it, and the way you feel it will differ depending on the situation you are in.There are always new discoveries and learnings.There are times when I get frustrated with something, when I feel uneasy, and when I get lost.I think that being able to naturally acquire this way of resetting is the same as gaining the strength to live in any situation.
And the most treasured thing is the “relationships with people” with teachers and friends.I was blessed with good classes and teachers, and I made a lot of really good friends regardless of age.Just as the principal said, "Because we eat brown rice from the same pot, we get along."No matter where I go, there are many opportunities to meet veggie and macro friends, and I am surprised myself.It may be that my intestinal bacteria are attracting it (laughs).
Now that I am living in Hong Kong by fate, I would like to pass on what I have learned to people who do not know macrobiotics, and share the excitement that I have experienced.
Sachiko Noyori
More from Sachiko
2012 Spring Normal Course Completed
Osaka Prefecture: Company employee
I first became interested in macrobiotics four years ago.I usually work in drug development at a pharmaceutical company, but the more I think about illness and health, the more I want to learn not only about treatment after illness, but also about diet to prevent illness. I thought.
However, I was not good at cooking, so when I finally applied for the beginner's course two and a half years ago, I never thought that I would continue to attend the normal course.However, once I started going there, the more I learned, the more I learned about macrobiotic cooking methods, the concept of yin and yang in ingredients and cooking, and the principles of nutrition, such as what and how to eat according to the season and physical condition. , the depth of the relationship between food and health, and the splendor of traditional Japanese eating habits, and my interest continues to deepen.
Each class was very stimulating and valuable, not only because I learned how to cook healthy and delicious dishes together with health-conscious people, but also because it gave me an opportunity to review my eating habits on a daily basis.Now, I've become more conscious of simple meals that suit my physical condition, and I've naturally moved away from junk food.
Looking back, I've lost body fat and my allergic rhinitis symptoms have all but improved!I am grateful for my encounter with macrobiotics.
Hiroshi Matano
Hiroshi Matano
2013 Spring Intensive Cooking Class Advanced Course Completed
Wakayama Prefecture: Agriculture
I took classes from beginner to advanced.I was very nervous because I was cooking with people I met for the first time in the classroom, and I was often the only man among women. I was able to enjoy the course while being stimulated by the attitudes of the students who are highly motivated.
I have been studying macrobiotics on my own with reference to books and other sources. , voices, cooperation with assistants, exchange of questions with students, atmosphere of the classroom, things that can only be learned in this classroom, I felt the depth of history and tradition of Japan Macrobiotic Association.
It's a place I want to visit again when I feel like I'm shaky, when I'm shaky.I was able to start a new life based on the concept of regular meals.thank you very much.
Takashi Ono
Ono Takashi
Completed training course in 2011
Osaka Prefecture: Worked at a natural food store (“Shizenkan”)
I have been working at a natural shop in Osaka for 21 years.In order to convey the correct knowledge of macrobiotics to customers, I knocked on the door of the Japan Macrobiotic Association, but there I learned that the brown rice vegetarian diet that I had continued for over 20 years to overcome my allergies was wrong.
On the day of the practical training, my physical condition strangely improved, my cold hands and feet disappeared, and I was able to cut ties with the “disposable body warmers” that I had been unable to part with in the winter.At first, I was planning to take only "intermediate class", but I am fascinated by the depth of regular cuisine and continue to learn.
I am grateful every day for the happiness of learning from the principal, lecturers, and seniors who have taught me so much that I cannot put into words.Also, from the beginner class to the training course, I was mostly the only man, but one of the big reasons I was able to continue was that I was always helped and encouraged by my classmates and the staff of the association.
In the future, I would like to convey the wonderfulness of Seishoku cuisine to as many people as possible.
