UTB Hollywood Presents A Full-Length Feature Documentary from Director Junichi Suzuki - WA-SHOKU: Beyond Sushi

A Fascinating Look at the Impact of Japanese Cuisine on America and the World

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Mar 13, 2015, 08:40 ET

LOS ANGELES, March 13, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- United Television Broadcasting (UTB) announced today the anticipated release of the documentary film WA-SHOKU: Beyond Sushi, the Japanese and American collaboration produced by United Television Broadcasting Systems and directed by award-winning director Junichi Suzuki. The film will have a limited theatrical release in Los Angeles and New York and will also be available through iTunes as a digital download.

WA-SHOKU: Beyond Sushi is an in-depth journey into the origins of the traditional food of Japan, or Wa-Shoku, in America and explores the history, impact and fascination of all Japanese cuisine—not just Sushi—and its continuing global popularity. Included in the documentary is the story of Noritoshi Kanai, Chairman of Mutual Trading Co., the revolutionary man who introduced the US to Wa-Shoku with Sushi—a delicacy that would become a cultural phenomenon and still enjoys tremendous popularity to this day. Director Suzuki provides intimate behind-the-scenes stories of well-known chefs who express their passion for Wa-Shoku and how they have dedicated their lives to uphold the standard of excellence of Japan's customary cultural cuisine. This film features many noteworthy celebrity chefs including, Nobu Matsuhisa, chef/owner of Nobu restaurants, Katsuya Uechi, chef/owner of Katsu-ya group, Tyson Cole, chef/owner of Uchi restaurant, world-renown French chef Joel Robuchon, Yoshihiro Murata chef/owner of Kyoto Kikunoi, and more. This full-length feature documentary, which runs just under 107 minutes, looks at the past and at the future possibilities of Wa-Shoku.

WA-SHOKU: Beyond Sushi will open with a limited theatrical release in Los Angeles at the Laemmle Playhouse 7 in Pasadena, April 10th to April 16th, and in New York's Cinema Village, April 24th to April 30th. The film will be available April 10th as a digital download on iTunes. Visit washoku-film.com for more information.

About Junichi Suzuki

Having thirty years of experience as a motion picture director, writer and producer, seminar lecturer, and volunteer making educational films, Junichi Suzuki is credited as director, producer and/or screenwriter on forty-seven feature films. He has written and directed numerous television documentaries and is a member of the Directors Guild of Japan. He is the founder of Eleven Arts, Inc., a global distributor of Japanese movies in Santa Monica, California. Suzuki made the trilogy films with United Television Broadcasting Systems about the Japanese American experience during WWII, which include Toyo's Camera: Japanese American History During WWII, 442: Live with Honor, Die with Dignity, and M.I.S: Human Secret Weapon. Junichi is married to actress Ms. Rumi Sakakibara.