I love Tampopo as well as Jûzô Itami’s A Taxing Woman. I haven’t seen his other films but I was lucky enough to find those two on VHS years ago at a price I could afford to pay at the time. I had been deeply invested in the concept of craft as a lifetime devotion back then, and Tampopo really, really struck home.
I guess one is able to find his films more easily in these days of downloads and streaming video. Itami did some incredible work and I second the idea of checking out Tampopo if you’ve never seen it.
When my life and I lived in Taiwan in the 1980s we used to look for shops with the best beef noodles, which uses thicker, meatier noodles, beef and beef broth instead of pork, and toppings that aren’t as elaborate as the Japanese ramen in this short video or in Tampopo. We didn’t have the same adventures as in the film, but it’s great living in a place where cheap fast food is also real food that the makers take pride in.
More about Jûzô Itami:
https://shrineodreams.wordpress.com/2011/11/04/the-killing-of-juzo-itami/
