RICE STORY
Jumpei Takeuchi

With a lot of food talk and a short story on his life.
Our fourth guest is Mr. Jumpei Takeuchi, who is a 26-year-old Umeboshi lover, currently holding ‘UMEBOSHI exhibition.’
Why is it about Umeboshi?
Along with bittersweet memories, check the rice story.

Interview and Story by : Kazuya Karasawa

本文：
The first thing I remembered when hearing the rice story was my second-grade school memory at elementary school. At the time, well, I was a child eating like a bird. Not only did I eat very little, but also I didn’t eat them all. Nevertheless, my parents told me to eat more, as I was the only child of them. Still, they couldn’t stop my persistent obsession for eating like a bird, and one day my father said “Hey, you should fast.” I said, “F-A-S-T? What is that?” Then my father said, “Don’t eat at all if you can’t finish it. Live on only water.” Not being able to read the situation, the innocent second-grade school kid responded to him, “Okay, no problem.”

One night during fasting, however, my mother cooked the curry, and the house was filled with curry smell. Whatever I did, like I hid in a bathroom and all, I was still able to sense the strong smells. I’m done. I’m starving to death. So late at night at 11 pm, I ended up crying and yelling at my father, saying “That does it! I can’t do any more than this!” Eating three bowls of curry that night, I haven’t been leaving foods since then.

How amazing food can be, as it is delicious and also