Hituji Real Estate, a part of Oshare Omoshirofudosan Media, lists a host of fashionable shared houses and co-living spaces that are all the rage right now. The shared house we visited for this article has a sleek, sophisticated look, almost like a purpose-built studio kitchen for photo shoots. But this is no studio. This is a shared lounge that all residents are free to use.
PLENDY-SHARE Funabashi Yakuendai (a 28-room house located in Funabashi, Chiba) just opened in April of this year [2015]. House operator Plan Do’s vision for the location was “an affable living style in which conversations spontaneously develop in a stylish kitchen”. The result is an ultra-modern shared house with a standout, fully equipped kitchen.
The designer-made, completely custom kitchen counter forms a natural, lively space for residents to enjoy cooking and eating together. The kitchen’s four sinks are equipped with German-made Grohe faucets, and full-size commercial refrigerator units have been installed. Other kitchen items include a high-end Vitamix food processor, French-made Le Creuset pots and pans, a Philips no-oil fryer and noodle maker, and a bread maker. All would be the envy of any professional chef.
The shared house has a gathering of some kind nearly every week: welcome parties for new residents, birthday parties, curry parties. Today, they are having a miso soup party. Which begs the question: what kind of miso soups are they actually making?
Teamwork, with everyone pitching in,
speeds the cooking along
The residents range from a 19-year-old university student to a 36-year-old wage earner. The shared house attracts people across many ages and occupations, giving it a much different atmosphere from a university residence or a company dormitory. The central concept is people are free to do what they want. It’s not so much that all the residents are a tightly knit group; it’s more accurate to say that people with compatible mindsets or in similar stations in life are naturally drawn to the house and are bound by a loose sense of solidarity.
Participating in today’s miso soup party are two women and three men who have lived at the house between one month and five months. Yamano Shuntaro (33, favorite miso soup ingredients: tofu and spinach), a self-proclaimed bad cook, immediately gets to work and starts mincing spring onions and other ingredients.
“Err … you eat the white bits of the onions!? In Kansai, we use green onions,” remarks Osaka native Minami Maiko (23, favorite miso soup: pork miso soup). Her comment was enough to convince the group to make pork miso soup, which is usually called buta-jiru in her city and ton-jiru in Tokyo. She takes the lead and begins expertly peeling the skin of a daikon radish while continuing to chat.
Hasegawa Kei (27, favorite miso soup ingredients: tofu and wakame seaweed), who cooks almost 100 percent of his meals, is, for the time being, today’s onsite supervisor. His role is to put the potatoes, carrots, tofu, pork, and other chopped ingredients into the pot in the correct order.
For the pork miso soup, the group is using Marukome’s Ryotei no Aji (Dashi-iri) miso. Ekimiso: Ryotei no Aji miso is the base for the second miso soup, which includes spinach, nameko mushrooms, and other ingredients, made under Yamano’s watchful eye.
Hasegawa, who lived with his older brother for a long time before moving into PLENDY-SHARE, explains his choice: “My brother always used Ryotei no Aji (Dashi-iri) miso because it tastes the best. I don’t think of it as the taste of my mother’s cooking anymore, but the taste of my brother’s cooking.” Thank you for that flavorful story.
A time to truly enjoy shared house living
Staff from the operating company helped with the preparations, which were coming along like clockwork when the last members of the crew returned home. Tanaka Kenta (28, favorite miso soup ingredients: tofu and spring onions), who says his specialty is somen noodles, and Yamamoto Sayu (19, favorite miso soup ingredient: asari clams) washed up cooking utensils and chopped wakame seaweed, blending in naturally with the others like miso paste melting in hot water.
With great teamwork, the pork miso soup and the special original miso soup are ready in no time. The dining table looks splendid with the addition of frozen foods from the refrigerators and salads and side dishes that had been made earlier and set aside. Then, after an enthusiastic itadakimasu blessing, everyone tasted the miso soups they had made together. Food prepared in a kitchen filled with such laughter and cheer obviously had to taste fantastic.
“I moved here from my parents’ when I started university. This is my first time living on my own, but I can eat with someone every day so I never feel lonely at all,” said Yamamoto, who is good at cooking simmered mackerel in miso. Tanaka, who lived at another shared house before moving in here, agreed: “I think it’s a great plus just mentally for me to have someone around when I get back from work.”
It’s enviable to have a place where you can share and eat a meal with someone at any time. The best seasoning for any cuisine are the friendly smiles of the cooks and the diners. Thank you all for the fabulous meal.
Photos courtesy of Hituji Real Estate, Oshare Omoshirofudosan Media
http://www.hituji.jp
