Saburo

New Aozora Restaurant (Dec 10): "Shimanami leaf" in Innoshima in Onomichi, Hiroshima. It's a bushy green veggie that appears exclusive to the region. Guests are Fukuda Maki of a very visible comedy trio and Miura Asami, an announcer for Nippon TV -- the program's network. Looks good to eat, although I don't think they progress much beyond the meat wraps. The Hiroshima oysters, introduced later in the show, look more attractive.

https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/1913ml2opvugm5mdfomf.html

Latest on NGN: 9/6/2020. Himura travels to Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture. Meals include a humongous kuruma-ebi tendon, unagi, and Douman crab from Lake Hamana. This visit wasn't a cheap one, I'll give them that. The unagi is also shared with the studio guests: my gal Kojima Ruriko and actress Ihara Rikka. I looked up Ihara's credit but could not find a drama I saw her in.

https://www.tbs.co.jp/sekkaku-g/archive/202009061/

Latest episode (Dec 3): Satoimo (taro) in Tondabayashi-shi, Osaka. Been a lot of rooty veggies, recently. Assume they'll be getting their fish on as winter approaches. Guests are another comedy duo but the boke dude (assume that's his role) is pretty funny in this episode.

https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/1913o68ny07i5l56lxoq.html

Good, modern interpretation. Some surprising cameos too. Best of all they incorporated much of the 1960s sound FX and music cues, save for the main theme song.

Hot take: the upcoming Shin Kamen Rider movie won't be a tenth of this movie's quality.

New episode: Broccoli in Daizen-cho, Tottori-ken. Harvesting in the dead of night with two members of Hinatazaka 46. Kinda disappointed in the cuisine, though. Lighter fare.

https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/1913mbncc74v2qqxjpc0.html

Latest episode: "Nebarikko" nagaimo in Hokuei-cho, Tottori-ken. Not really into the tororo stuff, but it's a Washoku staple, I guess. Guest is Kaneko Takatoshi, a frequent visitor to these parts.

https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/1913dk1z9jbu8xd3n0kx.html

p.s. I have never consumed any "Detective Conan" material, print, video, or otherwise. I didn't know it had such a strong connection to Tottori.

Latest on NGN: 8/16/2020. Himura visits Matsumoto in Nagano Prefecture, eating really good soba, tempura, and unagi. Other guests: Komatsu Nana (actress) and Ando Natsu (chubby funny lady) hit a kaiten-zushi place in Miura, Kanagawa Prefecture. Sekiguchi Mandy returns and eats steak in Miyazaki. Studio guests are Asahina Nao and Takahashi Maasa.

https://www.tbs.co.jp/sekkaku-g/archive/202008161/
https://www.tbs.co.jp/sekkaku-g/archive/202008162/
https://www.tbs.co.jp/sekkaku-g/archive/202008163/

New Aozora Restaurant: Aori Ika in Kanagawa-ken, Miura-shi. Squid/cuttlefish isn't really my thing. The geso (?) karaage looked OK but everything else reminded me of why I don't particularly care for ika. It's all plain, rubbery, and tasteless. Maybe the stuff in Japan is better, who knows?

Guests are another award-winning comedy duo. They seem thrilled to be on the show because of it.

https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/1913o82tnqw0oegxq847.html

New Aozora Restaurant: yuzu in Tokushima-ken. Guest is Tomochika -- haven't seen her on the show in some time. Some yuzu items look good: the shabu-shabu and mabo tofu. Others like the yuzu marinade for sushi... ehh, looks weird. I might be wrong.

https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/19139ucrevrncn19ldrl.html

Matsumoto Wakana is A HOOT!

Latest Aozora Restaurant: Shirasu in Kishiwada-shi in Osaka. Guest is actor Sato Ryuta, his fourth (!) appearance on the program.

Shirasu isn't exactly my cup of tea, YMMV...

https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/1913xllaq1r0jmokdlx7.html

New SP on NGN, broken into three parts. Airdate in Japan: 7/19/2020. Himura is at Fuji Five Lakes in Yamanashi-ken. They also hit Yonezawa and Maebashi in Gunma-ken. Studio guests for reaction shots are Imada Mio (!!!) and Shelly.

https://www.tbs.co.jp/sekkaku-g/archive/202007191/
https://www.tbs.co.jp/sekkaku-g/archive/202007192/
https://www.tbs.co.jp/sekkaku-g/archive/202007193/

Latest Aozora Restaurant: New Ginger bulbs in Chiba-ken Sanmushi-shi. Guest is Kazama Shunsuke, currently appearing in the Fuji-TV drama, "Silent." I guess he's also a Johnnys graduate 'cuz there's not a single image of him on the Nippon TV program episode recap.

https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/191393sjl8o8x9mn30u9.html

Osechi Special 2023 in the latest Aozora Restaurant!

https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/1913z1fopcup5a4z6ylq.html

This drama just began on NGN last week. Gonna give it a chance -- at least the first couple episodes.

Eita looks amazingly young.

FYI the episode featuring Otomo was particularly entertaining just for her engaging reactions to all the food.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CeOK2tRPwX7/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CeVfzddPdhk/
https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/1913j20nt50vm74yrhzh.html

New show on NGN, replacing Ariyoshi-kun no Shojiki Sanpo.

4/5/2020: First installment broadcast has Himura in Okinawa, eating a variety of comfort dishes, including a seriously humongous platter of katsu curry. Studio guests Sashihara Rino and Mori Izumi get to laugh at a lot of video.

https://www.tbs.co.jp/sekkaku-g/archive/202004051/
https://www.tbs.co.jp/sekkaku-g/archive/202004052/
https://www.tbs.co.jp/sekkaku-g/archive/202004053/

Final episode on NGN: 9/7/2019: Kichijoji. Guests are Sakashita Chiriko, one of Ariyoshi's great guests on the program. First-time guest is Fujinami Tatsumi, an ex-pro wrassler. He also did a stint in the States as "Doctor Fujinami." His wiki page is quite extensive.

https://www.fujitv.co.jp/burabura/_basic/backnumber/index-375.html
https://kakaku.com/tv/channel=8/programID=32206/episodeID=1294971/
http://kininarugurume.info/%e4%ba%ba%e6%b0%97%e7%95%aa%e7%b5%84/%e6%9c%89%e5%90%89%e3%81%8f%e3%82%93%e3%81%ae%e6%ad%a3%e7%9b%b4%e3%81%95%e3%82%93%e3%81%bd%ef%bc%8f%e3%81%b6%e3%82%89%e3%81%b6%e3%82%89%e3%82%b5%e3%82%bf%e3%83%87%e3%83%bc/post-224509/
https://osanpo-guide.com/shoujiki_sanpo-190907

NGN is cancelling Shojiki Sanpo in September, replacing it with another foodie/travel-themed program. Apparently the licensing cost doubled -- I guess Ariyoshi garners top-tier prices for the overseas markets.

I will miss my weekly visit to random Tokyo neighborhoods and the return of Shopan from maternity leave, in particular!

I'm back! Just watched recent episodes, unsubbed. Guests were Otomo Karen, Makise Riho, and the most recent episode, MOKOMICHI! What a delight, even with the COVID protocols in-show.

https://www.ntv.co.jp/aozora/articles/1913nrz6rpxgou90uay0.html