HISTORY OF EREWHON - NATURAL FOODS ... - SoyInfo Center

processing was going on (Reme’s tekka [miso] and onion
concentrate were excellent).
“It seemed like Paul and I were both on the same
timetable in terms of needing some new horizons, so it was
convenient and natural that we went at the same time.
Though Erewhon paid for his trip, and Sanae paid for mine,
we both went on business visas connected to Erewhon.”
Q: Did you stay together or see each other often?
“Our arrival was celebrated by a big dinner party at
Lima Ohsawa’s. Because we were Michio’s students, many
people were there to welcome us. It was a testament to the
esteem with which Michio was held in the Japanese
seishoku [macrobiotic] community. Michio and Aveline
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HISTORY OF EREWHON 32
themselves had not been back to Japan since leaving for the
U.S.
“Note: seishoku is the word that was used for
‘macrobiotic’ in Japan when I was there. It is written with
the characters for correct / proper + food. The word
‘macrobiotic’ was not commonly used in Japan at that time.
“Paul and I were taken here and there for some sightseeing
including the trip to Kamakura. We also met Mr.
Kazama. After a short time together in Tokyo, Paul went to
Osaka to stay with the Okada family and connect into the
food scene and make connections for Erewhon. We saw
each other from time to time, once to visit some food
production sources like shoyu, rice vinegar and sesame oil.
Another time we went on an outing to meet Kôji
Ogasawara, the noted proponent of Kototama (the word
soul); he was the author of a book titled Kototama: The
Principle of One Hundred deities of the Kojiki. This was
something Michio had told us about, related to a kind of
esoteric history of Japan. Mrs. Okada took us to
Ogasawara’s and we listened to him tell us about the
Kototama and the Kojiki, though due to the language
difference and the esoteric nature of the subject, it went
largely over my head.”
Q: What of importance did each of you accomplish?
How long did each of you stay?
“I recollect that Paul stayed somewhere around 9
months. During that time he did a lot of relationship
building for Erewhon, as well as learning about foods and
processing. Certainly, the relationship with Muso Shokuhin
was deepened.
“As for me, after a month or two, I realized that I didn’t
really know what I was doing over there. I had begun to
take lessons in Japanese at the Tokyo Nippongo Gakko in
Shibuya, but this was no easy language that I could pick up
without really applying myself. There quickly came the day
that I had to decide to let it go or really dig in. I choose to
dig in. That became the what that I was doing. To me that
was probably the single most important decision because it
affected everything else. After about two years of study, I
serendipitously met a teacher who could actually teach the
language to Westerners. This was a revelation, and I began
to learn the language according to the Japanese way rather
than the translated from English way. This deepened my
ability to relate and opened many doors for me. My last year
there, I worked for Muso Shokuhin as their translator /
international correspondent.
“I stayed in Japan for 3 years and 7+ months. By
agreement if I did not return within 18 months, I let go of
my 50% ownership position in Sanae Restaurant at a
prearranged figure (a modest sum) and used that money to
support my living and education in Japan until I knew
enough to utilize my Japanese in gainful ways.”
Note: This photo was sent by Evan Root to Patricia
Smith and by Patricia to Soyinfo Center (Nov. 2010).