INTERVIEWS

Cooking is not something to teach.

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com   Munshi R. Sultana (Bangladesh) Bangladesh cuisine instructor (She’s been in Japan since 1976) She conveys an extremely gentle atmosphere which embraces her students, so they totally became like her daughter. They were charmed by her gentle way of talking, her smile which seems like it accepts everything and of course her cuisine. They lost track of time talking to each other with laughs. It was already candle-night when they looked at a clock and hastily cleared off the dishes and washed them. Once you step in her classroom, everyone becomes

INTERVIEWS

I need to accommodate myself to Japanese culture in order to be here.

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: info@myeyestokyo.com   Houda Sellami Tunisian cuisine instructor (She’s been in Japan since June 2010) Today we introduce you to a cooking instructor from Tunisia, a North African country along the Mediterranean Sea. Houda Sellami, a very calm, very motherly and gentle-mannered woman. I didn’t believe that she came from a country where the Jasmine Revolution took place in 2010. I told her that and she laughed; “I called my family when it occurred. They told me that they were OK and I didn’t need to worry that much. Media always exaggerate things”.

INTERVIEWS

It‘s extremely enjoyable for me to tell Japanese people about my country’s culture.

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com   Rose Ohashi Ethiopian cooking instructor (She’s been in Japan since May 1998) My Eyes Tokyo brings you interviews with teachers from “Niki’s Kitchen“. It’s a cooking school in which foreigners teach their homeland dishes to Japanese people. The memorable 10th interviewee is Rose Ohashi, an iron chef from Ethiopia. She’s been here in Japan for 14 years so speaks Japanese very fluently. She smiles warmly and jokes like “When I was asked where I’m from, I answered that I came from Tobu-Nerima (Where her house is located)!”. Rose is such a

INTERVIEWS

I love cooking and teaching. Teaching, making jokes, and having fun together – those all are necessary in my class.

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi & Tomomi Tada Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com   Hassan El Masry (Egypt) Arabic cuisine chef/instructor (He’s been in Japan since 2009) The 9th interviewee of ”MET × Niki’s Kitchen” is Hassan El Masry, a man from Egypt. He has been successful as an Arabic cuisine chef for 33 years all over the world. Arabic cuisine might be a little unfamiliar to Japan because of its location. Probably you are interested in his class and cuisine in Niki’s kitchen. Surprisingly he used to be a belly dancer in Egypt! What we found through his cooking class

INTERVIEWS

Each person, each part of India is different. So I wanted people to see that.

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi & Tomomi Tada Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com   Karen Pereira Gomez Indian cuisine instructor (She’s been in Japan since 2009) The 8th interviewee of “MET × Niki’s Kitchen” is Karen Pereira Gomez, an Indian woman from Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay). Her character is a passionate and lively one that lets her enjoy exploring new things in the world. And in her class, we can see she is keen on teaching real India, especially her community which is very diverse and something new as well.Why is she like that? The key might be found in

INTERVIEWS

Niki’s Kitchen has strengthened family ties and has brought us closer.

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi & Tomomi Tada Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com   Camila Furuhata (Colombia) Colombian cuisine instructor (She’s been in Japan since ’96) My Eyes Tokyo brings you interviews with teachers from Niki’s Kitchen. It’s a cooking school in which foreigners teach their homeland dishes to Japanese people. The 7th interviewee is Camila Furuhata from Colombia, who is gentle and has a brilliant smile just like an angel. We were the ones who got healed by her smile and couldn’t help asking her kiddingly, “Can we stay here and have dinner tonight?” Then she told me with a big

INTERVIEWS

My wish is to show what Serbia and the Balkans really are.

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com   Jelena Jeremic (Serbia) Serbian/Greek cuisine instructor (She’s been in Japan since 2009)   My Eyes Tokyo brings you interviews with teachers from “Niki’s Kitchen“. It’s a cooking school in which foreigners teach their homeland dishes to Japanese people. This is a story about the first Serbian whom we met in our life: Jelena Jeremic, a young, cheerful, intelligent and humorous woman. She loves telling jokes all the time and she keeps the smile on her students’ faces during her classes. You can learn how to cook Serbian and Greek dishes,

INTERVIEWS

I really wondered when and where Japanese people learned being friendly and caring about each other.

Interviewed by Isao Tokuhashi & Masayuki Abe Written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com   Tanja Sobko (Sweden) Nutritionist/cooking instructor (She’d been in Japan from 2006 to early 2009) We introduce you to a wonderful lady. Tanja Sobko, a Swedish nutritionist who currently works in Hong Kong. She came to Japan in 2006 after she gained the chance of coming to Japan. It has been her true love since she was a little girl, and she interacted with folks here with boundless love. Japanese people also became big fans of her, too. So she came over to the people like

INTERVIEWS

Niki’s Kitchen is a great opportunity to make Japanese friends.

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com   Tasnoova Tahia Bangladeshi cuisine instructor (She’s been in Japan since 2007) About a month and a half has passed since a big earthquake hit Japan. Many foreigners left Japan to avoid aftershocks and radiation, but many foreigners still stay here without hesitation. Cooking instructors of Niki’s Kitchen are the same. They were obliged to cancel their classes due to the earthquake, but some have been already returned to normal. Tasnoova Tahia, a young Bangladeshi instructor, had the earthquake on March 11 on 45th floor of a high-rise apartment in Tokyo. She’s closed

INTERVIEWS

I don’t have a fear of moving somewhere else. I don’t care about one’s nationality or skin color.

Interviewed & written by Isao Tokuhashi Mail to: itokuhashi@myeyestokyo.com   Clara Nakazato (Venezuela) Venezuelan cuisine instructor (She’s been in Japan since ’95) The 4th interviewee of “MET × Niki’s Kitchen” is Clara Nakazato, a woman from Venezuela, South America. She is encompassing, envelopes her students in a warm hug. Her Japanese husband has a warm personality as well as Clara and the couple creates an aura of peace and harmony. Clara never builds a wall. She has no hesitation about anything. She tries any food even if it’s new to her. To people as well, she never distinguishes people by race,