Society & Culture

Roots to Fruit

Momoko Nakamura

Hi, I’m Momoko. And welcome to Roots to Fruit. I am a cultural conservationist and storyteller based in Tokyo. I have a fundamental belief that in order to bear our richest, juiciest fruit,...

Episodes

20 of 21 episodes

020: Michelle Zamora / Texas, Los Angeles / A puppeteer who connects to her ancestors through the power of voice

BIO: Michelle is a LatinX puppeteer, puppet creator, and CEO of Viva La Puppet, LLC. She traveled around the world bringing Waffles to life...

00:40:12Feb 22, 2022

019: Seung Hee Lee / South Korea / A passionate mission to establish Korean cuisine as a global love language

BIO: Author of Everyday Korean and founder of KoreanFusion, Seung Hee Lee is a writer and teacher with a PhD in Human Nutrition. Born and ra...

00:58:10Feb 8, 2022

018: Nikki Tsukamoto Kininmonth / Japan, New Zealand / A translator creates a stage for the female voice

BIO: Nikki was born in Tokyo, Japan and spent her formative years in the North Island of New Zealand. She studied sociology and media studie...

00:53:38Jan 25, 2022

017: Nour Najem / Lebanon, Brazil / A designer's dream for a powerful collective story

BIO: Nour Najem is a serial social entrepreneur. She believes design’s true purpose is to draw change and out of the box solutions. Through...

00:38:30Jan 18, 2022

016: Jeffery O'Harrow / US, Japan / A burned out salaryman's fruitful next chapter

BIO: Born and raised in Tokyo, to a Japanese mother from rural Hokkaido and American father from rural Oregon. Attended international school...

00:38:30Dec 21, 2021

015: Andrea Balboni / Italy, US / On Caravaggio, and the reframing of sex, love and relationships

BIO: Andrea Balboni is a Sex, Love and Relationships Coach who knows an important truth that she wants everyone to know – the secret to havi...

00:48:47Dec 14, 2021

014: Ray Masaki / Japan / Observing social idiosyncrasies through design

BIO: Ray Masaki is a Japanese-American graphic designer from New York, living and working in Tokyo since 2017. He studied illustration at Pa...

00:51:23Dec 7, 2021

013: Arlette Gómez Ortiz / Mexico / A designer's creation rooted in her grandmother and the bees

BIO: Designer, gastronome, honey enthusiast & founder of A de abeja, a small scale honey project based in Mexico promoting bees and beekeepe...

00:51:20Nov 30, 2021

012: Alice Grandoit / Haiti, New York / A cultural researcher recalls her grandparents' tastes and sounds

BIO: Alice is a researcher, cultural organizer, publisher, and host working across food, culture, and design. She is the co-founder and edit...

00:56:41Nov 23, 2021

011: Elli Sawada / Japan / A textile researcher weaves together her own definition of home

BIO: Elli is a natural dyer, weaver, and textile researcher currently based in Los Angeles. After studying Anthropology at Brown University,...

00:51:21Nov 16, 2021

010: Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik / Colombia, India, Japan / How an artist grew up in her parent's stories

BIO: Sita Kuratomi Bhaumik is an artist whose work has been called a “joyous political critique.” She sparks connection and tells the storie...

00:55:02Nov 9, 2021

009: Carlos Carneiro / Portugal / A filmmaker's scrumptious love letter home

BIO: Born in Porto, Portugal, Carlos Carneiro is a Portuguese director based in Brooklyn, NY. Graduated in Film Production at UCA, UK in 200...

00:43:21Oct 26, 2021

008: Adrian Chang / Southern China / Honoring the earth and the ancestral table

BIO: Adrian is a cook, food writer and proud 3rd-generation Southern Chinese-American. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, Adrian le...

00:53:31Oct 19, 2021

007: Chitra Agrawal / India / Intergenerational and multicultural taste memories

BIO: Chitra is the co-founder of Brooklyn Delhi, an Indian-American food brand inspired by her heritage. She is the author of Vibrant India:...

00:43:00Oct 12, 2021

006: Akiko Kurematsu / Japan / Recipes, motherhood, and telling the most critical stories of our times

BIO: Akiko is a culture writer, journalist, and author contributing in-depth features, essays, and profiles that showcase how she observes t...

00:47:43Oct 5, 2021

005: Shoda Kanai Shonin / Japan / Buddhist Priest's call for inner peace

BIO: Shoda Kanai Shonin has been a Japanese Buddhist priest from the Nichiren Shu Order for over 25 years. He is the only American to comple...

00:36:43Sep 28, 2021

004: Clarissa Wei / Taiwan / A journalistic exploration of recipes

BIO: Clarissa is a freelance journalist currently based in Taipei. She's currently writing her first cookbook. ROOTS: Taiwan FRUIT: By way o...

00:36:05Sep 21, 2021

003: Stephanie Tsai Karlik / Taiwan / Healing and rooted wellness

BIO: Stephanie is a Taiwanese, Iberian, and Irish author and anthropologist. Her first book Shanghai Seduction explores the return migration...

00:41:46Sep 14, 2021

002: Lindsay Arakawa / Japan / Documenting through photography and illustration

BIO: Lindsay Arakawa is a creative currently living in Tokyo, Japan. Born and raised in Honolulu, Hawaii, she later moved to the Bay Area to...

00:39:31Sep 7, 2021

001: Ranmalee Araliya Perera / Sri Lanka / Self-exploration through writing

BIO: Ranmalee is a Sri Lankan Tamil and Sinhala author, mother, educator in transformational justice and equity minded pedagogy, and medicin...

00:39:25Sep 1, 2021