I was born and raised in Japan. I've always been interested in other cultures and languages. I spent one year in the U.S. as an exchange student and I went to Halifax, Canada, for university, where I realized how much I loved cooking. I've been back in Japan for a few years now and trying new dishes from around the world whenever I get some time off from work. Mediterranean, Italian, South East Asian, Japanese food. When I finally made a pizza that I was satisfied with, I was really happy. I once made a really really salty "katsudon" which is a Japanese dish with fried pork simmered in beaten egg and soy sauce based soup on the bed of rice. I never tasted anything saltier than that.