What if there were a land where people lived longer than anywhere else on earth, the obesity rate was the lowest in the developed world, and women in their forties still looked like they were in their twenties? Wouldn't you want to know their extraordinary secret? Japanese-born Naomi Moriyama reveals the secret to her own high-energy, successful lifestyle–and the key to the enduring health and beauty of Japanese women–in this exciting new book. The Japanese have the pleasure of eating one of the most delicious, nutritious, and naturally satisfying cuisines in the world without denial, without guilt…and, yes, without getting fat or looking old. As a young girl living in Tokyo, Naomi Moriyama grew up in the food utopia of the world, where fresh, simple, wholesome fare is prized as one of the greatest joys of life. She also spent much time basking in that other great center of Japanese food culture: her mother Chizuko's Tokyo kitchen. Now she brings the traditional secrets of her mother's kitchen to you in a book that embodies the perfect marriage of nature and culinary wisdom–Japanese home-style cooking. If you think you've eaten Japanese food, you haven't tasted anything yet. Japanese home-style cooking isn't just about sushi and raw fish but good, old-fashioned everyday-Japanese-mom's cooking that's stood the test of time–and waistlines–for decades. Reflected in this unique way of cooking are the age-old traditional values of family and the abiding Japanese love of simplicity, nature, and good health. It's the kind of food that millions of Japanese women like Naomi eat every day to stay healthy, slim, and youthful while pursuing an energetic, successful, on-the-go lifestyle. Even better, it's fast, it's easy, and you can start with something as simple as introducing brown rice to your diet. You'll begin feeling the benefits that keep Japanese women among the youngest-looking in the world after your very next meal! If you're tired of counting calories, counting carbs, and counting on being disappointed with diets that don't work and don't satisfy, it's time to discover one of the best-kept and most delicious secrets for a healthier, slimmer, and long-living lifestyle. It's time to discover the Japanese fountain of youth…. "A DELICIOUS WAY TO STAY HEALTHY." — Washington Post "[A] well-organized, persuasive introduction to a non-Western everyday cooking plan."— Publishers Weekly "One-upping a certain French woman who boasted about staying thin, Moriyama reveals seven secrets of how Japanese women avoid adding pounds and prolong their life."—GoodHousekeeping.com "Thanks to Moriyama and Doyle, readers can learn from an insider raised in Japan. . . . Even the most hesitant readers will find their passion for the wonderful taste and aroma of Japanese dishes irresistible."— The Cleveland Plain Dealer Naomi Moriyama was born in Tokyo. As a U.S.-Japan marketing consultant, she works with some of the world's leading fashion, luxury, and consumer brands. She lives in New York City with her husband and coauthor, William Doyle, who has written or cowritten five books. Chapter 1 My Mother’s Tokyo Kitchen The people assemble in joy; Food and drink is abundant. For all generations without end, Day by day ever more flourishing, Until myriads of years hence The pleasure will not cease. —Ancient Japanese blessing My mother, Chizuko, sends me e-mails from Tokyo all the time. She sends them from her mobile phone–when she’s in the kitchen or the grocery store, when she’s on line to buy tickets to a show, or when she’s waiting for a train in a Tokyo subway station. She wants to know how my husband, Billy, and I are doing, when we’re coming over to visit–and what we’re eating. To help us write this book, she’s been sending us her recipes and food tips by e-mail and via fax, sometimes writing little diagrams of vegetables like mountain potatoes. She is a self-taught natural master of Japanese home cooking who never refers to a cookbook. “It’s all in my brain,” she explains. Like many mothers in Japan and around the world, my mother has always been devoted to giving her family the most healthy and delicious food she can find, as a way of showing her love for them. I see her cooking not just as a sign of love but also as the perfect symbol of why Japanese women are living longer and healthier than everyone else on Earth, and why they (and their husbands) have the lowest obesity rates in the developed world. My husband and I both have stories to tell that bring those statistics to life. I’ll start with Billy’s story, which began several years ago, when we stayed at my parents’ apartment in Tokyo for a week and experienced–for the first time, in Billy’s case–a total immersion in my mother’s home cooking. I had been back to Tokyo many times over the years, both on business and to visit my family, but when I was there I usually stayed at hotels like the Park Hyatt (the setting of Sofia Coppola’s Lost in Tra