At over 1,000 meters above sea level, the air in the uplands of Niigata Prefecture is fresh, clear and revivifying. In summer, the fertile farmland of Minamiuonuma is covered with lush green rice fields. By midwinter, it will be a crisp, silent, monochrome snowscape. But for a few short weeks in early October, the land glows with a rich golden hue as the grain ripens for harvest and the forests start to display their autumn foliage.
This is the season for thanksgiving — for festivals celebrating the crops, the fruit and fungi, the bounty of the harvest and the hedgerows. It’s a time for gratitude and appreciation.
For chef Keiko Kuwakino, this is the time to get busy preparing for the oncoming winter.