Right away! (Good to see they are looking in great shape - should be fine for a few more weeks but why wait?) A bit of persimmon vinegar and a few more umeboshi are coming your way...

I was looking around your site for contact info as I wanted to reach out about my next book with Andrews McMeel (Preserving the Japanese Way)...and in the meantime got sucked into your thoughts and tastes that jumped into my psyche. I just finished a piece for the January issue of ANA's inflight magazine on the Kumamotos in Japan and Seattle...but actually fell down the rabbit hole for the Olympia's. Oh my god I dream about them. As for umeboshi - you could ask Sylvan Brackett - he might be willing to part with some for you. Or why don't you just make some? They are ridiculously easy and so much more personal when you can put your own taste into the mix. Deborah Madison's brother Mike makes olive oil near Davis but also has a slew of ume trees on his property. An idea. Or if you want, I could send you some of my umeboshi... I also recommend making persimmon vinegar - let me know if you want the method. Nothing more than persimmons in a pot. Truly. ([email protected]). By the way Alice introduced us at the showing of Wayne Wang's film on Celia Chang. I am the author of Japanese Farm Food.

Thanks Fumi! All we can do every day is to try a little harder. Right? Food is the most important thing for keeping us healthy and in touch with the real part of life. Food is communication. Food is culture. Food is life.

Ali: I really dropped the ball on these comments. So sorry I was in the midst of a wild book tour. I live on the outskirts of Saitama right next to Gunma. We are close to the Honjo Waseda shinkansen stop. I do lessons though right now am on a bit of a hiatus. Send me an email at my first and last name at me dot com and I can put you on the announcement list. Tim: I don't know Fussa but you should check out Radish Boya as a CSA. Also our local soy sauce/miso/tofu place sends out CSA boxes using organic vegetables they grow and my husband's eggs. They are called Yamaki Jozo and can be reached at [email protected]yamaki-co.com. One of their high up guys speaks excellent English. Also their phone no. is 0274-52-7070. Chee: Nice to hear that Kinokuniya is carrying the book. I don't think Powell's is...except on line. Let me know if you have any questions and thank you so much for reaching out.