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| "Women's Life and Health" is the interview series that features active professional women about their health, lifestyle and career. |
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| Interview
vol.6 |
Natsu Shimamura -Part2 |
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| What was it about slow food that you reacted to? |
| I used to eat lots of fast food when I was a university student. Then, I became ill. At that time I didn’t know what was wrong with me, but a polyp was found. Everyone said I looked awful. I went to see several doctors who diagnosed me with numerous illnesses which had very long names, and prescribed me with lots of different medicines. But, none of them seemed to solve the problem completely. Later, I ended up with Chinese herbal medicine, but the price was much more than a university student could afford, so that did not last very long. In the meantime, I visited Italy for my thesis research. Before I knew it, I was feeling much better. Then, I wondered what was different. When I looked around, Italy still had a lot of long-established businesses. Small individual shops were still thriving. In the market, all the vegetables and fruits were piled up, but without plastic wrapping. They were much more beautiful to look at. I thought that’s why. I enjoyed myself and felt much better. |
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| I see. So, the food ingredients themselves gave you that energy. |
| Even lawyers and prosecutors who would behave in a certain way when I interviewed them, when they invited me to dinner, or if I invited them to a Japanese dinner at my place, always came along with their partners. At the dinner table, we tended to have a more relaxed time, and so this gave me the opportunity to learn more about them. People also wouldn’t mind coming for dinner even if it was a weekday. I thought people in Italy value highly the hours they spend for eating. In fact, it was about the time I developed this idea to write about their attitude toward eating when I encountered the word “slow food.” This seemed just the right phrase to portray the essence of what that country treasures. |
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| So, when you yourself were thinking about your health, you found what you were looking for. |
| For me, the hours I spend eating good food seems to stand at the heart of what I want to cherish most in my life. In other words, as long as I don’t compromise this part, my life will be okay; it will always be enriching even if other things, like the place I live or the relationship I have with people at work, change. |
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| The idea of appreciating everyday meals does sound appealing. |
| What is at the heart of this is whether the person has fun or not. In Milan, with so many designers’ stores opening, many stores no longer close their stores during lunch hours. But, if you go to places like Sicily and other islands, people do not compromise their lunch hours. This kind of uncompromising attitude is still very much alive. I think the bottom line is whether people find it a comfortable way for them to live, or whether it really is enjoyable for them. When environmental issues get talked about more and more in the future, there will also be more opportunities for businesses to emerge from out of the slow food movement. |
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| You were originally studying art. Why did you decide to switch to a totally different field? |
| People in Italy treasure things that are ordinary in everyday life, but are also beautiful at the same time. They care about certain parts of their life that they perceive as the most important, and they hold on to the way of life they consider to be beautiful. So, even though it may not be as comfortable, people would choose high-heeled shoes over sneakers. The same thing can be said about a town’s scenery. The reason why they don’t put products in plastic wrapping is because it looks too shiny and not at all beautiful. Following the same idea, they do not want their town to look identical to other towns nearby by having the same loan companies, pachinko parlors and chain restaurants. The place would no longer look beautiful. Because there is a close link between their attitude toward food and their attitude toward their town’s scenery, they want their country to be a place where children’s aesthetic senses are nurtured and heightened. That’s why they want to at least ensure that the beautiful sights of their towns are handed down as legacies from the past which can still captivate people even to this day. |
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| Do you mean that Italian art and slow food are connected in terms of aesthetic beauty? |
| Yes, they are directly connected. For instance, Italians are huge coffee drinkers, yet they do not sell any canned coffee. Why? Because they probably thought the sight of older men drinking canned coffee does not look attractive. Besides, the person who drinks it would probably say, “It tastes of metal” (laughs). In fact, one day, I brought an ordinary wasabi tube to an elderly gentleman, and he told me that wasabi smelled of plastic (laughs). I thought, “Oh, I’m sorry. You’re right. That had never occurred to me.” Italians often use their sense of smell, and without having this awareness of smell which they have, we will no longer be able to discern the essential aroma of things. |
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| I see. What is important is each individual’s sensibility and love for what they consider to be beautiful. |
| Exactly. In that sense, Japanese seem to be so preoccupied with ideas such as efficiency or things such as business models. There isn’t much freedom. In fact, people don’t seem to go beyond and question whether the food they are eating is genuinely delicious or whether their life is actually enjoyable. I cannot help thinking that is different from how we Japanese used to be. I think Japan used to be a place that had more freedom and where warm-hearted, interesting people gathered who were also open to things that came from across the ocean. |
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