Fukiko Yokoyama is a specialist chef focusing on relationships between people, water and dining. Photographer Shigeru Akimoto captures the fullness and vitality of her dishes. The exhibition was planned to complement Yokoyama and Akimoto’s co-authored book Hyakumi Saisai (Vegetables with a hundred tastes). It explores the body and water from new angles. Olfactive Studio Ne was commissioned to provide accompanying scents.
In order to appreciate how the beauty and refined taste of Yokoyama’s cookery derive from careful preparation, we extracted flavours of konbu (kelp) and seasonal ingredients like butterbur shoots and myoga ginger, by steaming in distilled water.
We released an ambiguous and abstract fragrance at the exhibition entrance, but as visitors went inside, more concrete and straightforward scents were offered, coupled with visual presentations of the ingredients and distilled water. Scents were used to arouse the imagination.