Interesting take, and a wonderful book to just read. A nice take on the ways of a different culture, and the pictures were attractive and enhanced the book. Would highly recommend, although not sure if I will try the methods or not.

First off, this book is a visual treat, full of beautiful photos of Japanese food, places, and people, if you like your cookbooks very specialized and pretty then you will love this book.

Sadly due to some really stupid food intolerances, I cannot eat much in the way of fermented food, and certainly no soy, but for all that I still enjoyed every moment I spent reading this book. See, I love traditional Japanese food, one of my favorite cookbooks from my earlier days was a book on country cooking in Japan, and the dishes I tried were delicious, this book mirrors the same traditional aesthetic that I love.

I also really liked how it was not just a book about food but also about the people who specialize in making the tools and ingredients, it was a beautiful look into both their's and the author's lives.

Even if you have no interest in fermenting foods, I recommend this book, doubly so if you love Japanese cooking and culture.

I first began reading Japanese recipes and cookbooks after my youngest son moved to Japan. In particular, the pickling process and use was intriguing. When his fiance visited, I made pickles especially for her. Preserving the Japanese Way goes way beyond a cookbook. It is a cultural, even spiritual story of a Japanese way of life that much like ours in the U.S., was almost lost. Read this as much for Hachisu's story as for the recipes.

This is a thorough and informative guide to pickling and preserving in a Japanese style. Will appeal to patrons interested in Japanese cooking, Fermentation, and food photography.

I would recommend book. The pictures are great and steps are easy to follow. But, I still think it's for advance skills. I enjoyed because it's different canning and preserves.

This is really a fabulous book, one that you can dip into when relaxing with lots of information about the food and the traditional methods of preserving. And one that you can try making some Japanese preserves, I must confess that when I first saw the book my interest was pricked, but I never thought I would make anything in the book, but the recipes are so do-able. The ingredients aren't hard to find and the methods are easy to follow. A really instructive and interesting book into the cooking, tradition and culture of a cuisine we love to eat. Now we can have a hand in making it ourselves.

Someone is getting a copy of this book for Christmas. I haven't quite decided if it'll be for Hubby or Teenage Daughter, but this book needs to be in our kitchen. With our family's ongoing series of culinary dares, this book seemed like a good way to find out what some of those intriguing things on the shelves of Uwajimaya and Fubonn actually are.

There's so much more than food in this book. The author lives in a hundred year old Japanese farmhouse with her husband and family, and teaches an English immersion preschool. She describes her wooden buckets and barrels and collection of old cooking implements in loving details, explaining when and why traditional is better than modern plastic. The pictures are gorgeous and the instructions are clear.

And that's before I even start to think about the food that's the purpose for the book in the first place! I won't be pickling eggs, but there are plenty of recipes I want to try.

First, let me start off by saying, the pictures in this cookbook are A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! It made me nostalgic for the country that I studied abroad in during my college years. Although, I absolutely love most of these flavors and styles of foods, I more than likely will not be able to recreate them due to lack of ingredients in the area (also the costs of what is around) as well as the space to do it. That being said, I totally would try if those circumstance change for me.

If you are up for trying new foods, then you really should check out this cookbook. Even if your not, this is worth reading just for the photos and the tidbits of Japanese culture that you find throughout.