The Manga Guide to Japanese Food By Hiroshi Nagashima

Illustrated by Megumi Osaki

As with many in Tuttle's "Manga Guide To" series, this book combines manga chapters with nonfiction sections covering a primer of Japanese culinary history. The character in the manga chapters is high-schooler Manabu who is wanting to become a chef, and he learns alongside a French culinary student who is in Japan to learn more about Japanese cuisine. Topics include Japan's rice culture, seafood farming, dashi, mold development, umami, and sushi popularization. 

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There is so much information packed into this volume! The inclusion of manga characters was a cute way of introducing concepts that were then given a deeper dive in the nonfiction section. The topics included were important and relevant to readers who are interested in learning about some of the fundamentals of Japanese food culture. Obviously, this is scratching the surface of thousands of years of history, but this is definitely a good place to start.This series of "Manga Guide To" can be a great investment for libraries wanting to encourage manga readers to read more nonfiction.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12

Publisher: Tuttle
Publication Date: May 14, 2024 
ISBN: 9784805317624 (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: High School, Manga, Nonfiction, Culinary, History, Tuttle