We’re living in an era when many people spend as much time gazing at images of food as they do actually eating it. All the same, good food movies are as rare as a last-minute reservation at Sukiyabashi Jiro: The alchemy that goes into creating a perfect meal doesn’t typically lend itself to the narrative requirements of a two-hour drama.
Maybe that’s why some of the most satisfying foodie fare to come out of Japan recently has been TV series such as “Midnight Diner” and “Solitary Gourmet”: episodic, gently paced shows in which the story is mostly just an aperitif for whatever is on the menu.
Fans of these offerings will probably appreciate Yuji Nakae’s “The Zen Diary,” a serene and nourishing adaptation of a 1978 nonfiction book by the late author Tsutomu Mizukami. In spirit and sensibility, it’s hard to imagine a more Japanese film, rooted in an unsentimental — and yes, very Zen — outlook.