ズームイン!! SUPER

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I’ve had some interesting ramen adventures in these past couple years. The latest started with an email from a producer at Nihon TV‘s morning show, Zoom In!! Super. It’s a daily, nationwide news program with random segments thrown in the mix. The Maru Q bit takes a topic, asks questions to strangers on the street, and consults with an expert. Yesterday, the Maru Q piece was about how dirty your curtains get, and how to clean them. This Thursday, December 2nd, the subject matter is foreigners and their love of ramen.
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They wanted me to be the expert in their show. Jumping at the opportunity, I recommended about 10 shops that I often take foreign visitors to. We ended up filming at 3 of those. Nagi, Bassanova, and Fuunji.
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We filmed a lot of stuff. Introducing the shop to the news reporter, eating, commenting, talking about the web site.
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A surprise, Nagi had on hand some of their new spice mix that was made for their Hong Kong shop, Butao.
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I mentioned before that I am really loving this taberayu boom that is happening now. Well this was the best so far. A mix of hot oil, numbing sancho spices, shrimp meat (I think), and peanuts. We all had a taste, and though it might have been too spicy for some of the crew, Imanaka-san and I loved it.
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Next up was Bassanova.
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Keizo and I got interviewed side by side. I really hope it makes the final cut. It’s been great to share so many things with my good friend.
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On camera, Japanese people eating food is a cliche. Take a bite, ponder for a second, then give a deep, emotional response. Follow it up with an insightful comment. I tried my best!
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Another cliche of Japanese food shows is the closeup shot of the bowl, steam rising, spoon gently swirling the soup.
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And the noodles slowly being lifted. I have never seen a food program where this was not the case.
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There’s a better shot over at goramen.
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The next shop was Fuunji. I think it’s the best tsukemen in Tokyo, though sometimes I miss the hot stone over at TETSU.
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Same deal. Intro the shop, eat in front of the camera, make comments.
A piece of advice. Some people say not to wear white after Labor Day, but I say don’t wear white to a ramen shop.
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I used Japanese and English. I’m curious how they will edit it.
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The show will air sometime between 7:00am and 8:00am on Thursday, December 2nd here in Japan on Nihon Terebi, which is channel 4 here in Tokyo. I’ll try to get my hands on a copy. This sort of thing usually makes it onto youtube.

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