Director Jeremy Valender of Pundersons Gardens visited Japan’s independent, small-batch factories and breweries to capture the care that goes into making slow, labor-intensive versions of the country’s favourite edibles. Though such methods are disappearing fast, the Handred consortium—a loose collection of producers—has formed with the shared goal of protecting such time-honored traditions for the future.

Here Valender discovers the fishy inner workings of the Suzuhiro kamaboko (fishcake) company: 

“I have to admit kamaboko was a bit of a new one for me. But I was assured that the food has a long history in Japan and tends to be eaten at special occasions. At Suzuhiro the food heritage is so strong that the factory also has a museum. The process of forming the paste with a knife takes many years to master and has to be done by hand so the fish paste can be layered to create the smoothest possible texture. It can be quite an odd one for the uninitiated but the texture and taste of the food is something highly regarded in Japanese cuisine.”