Hiroyuki’s Profile
Hiroyuki Naka was born in 1960. When he was 16 years old, he worked in a sushi restaurant with the aim of becoming a chef. When he became a full-fledged sushi chef, he went to Boston. In 1981, he began to practice macrobiotics with Michio Kushi, pursuing his studies for 6 years. In 1985, he opened a brown rice sushi restaurant in Boston on Newburry St. From Boston, he went to Hawaii and studied American and Hawaiian culture, as well as business and Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP). NLP combines neurology, linguistics, and observable patterns of behavior. It focuses on how communication is affected by and shapes our experiences. When he returned to Japan, he taught NLP. In 1995, the Great Hanshin Earthquake devastated Kobe, near Osaka, Japan. Hiroyuki had a deep moment of awakening and love for his fellow country people, and feared great ruin for the people of Japan due to an increasing departure from living in harmony with nature. This inspired him to open his own restaurant again, where he met Mie as a customer. She later became his business partner. Their base of customers grew to approximately 200. In 1999, Hiroyuki and Mie contacted Michio and requested that he give a seminar in Osaka. When Michio arrived and saw how many people were interested in learning more about macrobiotics, he approved of their opening a Kushi cooking school. Since 2000, their school has been increasingly growing. Now, Hiroyuki is teaching Kushi Macrobiotics as a certified Kushi counselor in Osaka, Japan and has approximately 500 students. His publications include a cookbook entitled, Watashi no Diet or Our Style of Diet, features in popular magazines, and numerous journal articles in both Ohsawa and Kushi macrobiotic publications.
Hiroyuki’s Style of Teaching
Hiroyuki specializes in Samurai Macrobiotics. His style has a distinctly spiritual component drawing on the samurai culture from Japan, focusing specifically on the concept that the samurai warrior should protect the lord. The samurai warrior has an important connection with God and the Universe. Applied to macrobiotics, this means the macrobiotic practitioner has a duty to protect not just God, but also nature, and other humans. There is an importance of respect and lifelong relationship with people at all levels, including farmers, God, teachers (in this case, Michio), people who cook the food, one’s wife or husband, and parents. The same respect is paid at the temples and shrines where rice is blessed and wishes made.
He takes his students to places with high levels of spiritual energy such as important temples and shrines to pray, give thanks, and to study. Students learn how to cook brown rice in traditional style kitchens from a kamido, (a wood-burning earthenware stove). The literal translation of kamido is god (kami) gate (do), so he feels that the kitchen is the entrance to the world of spirit, and heaven’s energy. When you pray in the shrine and when you cook your food in the kitchen following traditional macrobiotic methods, then god is present. When one looks at photographs of such events, one can see tamayura, or little spirit bubbles, which he describes as happy spirits who are enjoying the high levels of spiritual energy and having fun while people cook and study together.
Hiroyuki can typically be found with his samurai sword (traveling chopsticks) and pocket-sized kit of macrobiotic condiments for all types of emergencies.
Mie’s Profile
Mie Naka was born in 1961. She majored in early childhood development and taught in a kindergarten. In addition, she learned firsthand about the many emotional and physical problems many Japanese people are encountering today through a counseling position in Osaka, where she specialized in autogenic hypnotherapy. Her counseling position led her to work in local corporations, where she instructed CEOs and management teams in stress management. She is the author of the book How to Make a Smile. Despite her work in counseling, she could not help but wonder why so many of her clients relapsed or returned to unhealthy patterns of living. In 1994, she met Hiroyuki, and began to practice macrobiotics. Previous to her macrobiotic life, she found herself debilitated with many illnesses. Since then, she has been in excellent health. Not only that, but through her initial macrobiotic studies, she has seen how changing one’s diet is the key factor to change one’s life. When she discovered this, she became dedicated to macrobiotics as her life’s work. She has been teaching Kushi Macrobiotics in Osaka, Japan since 1999. She has about 500 students. Recently, she has been diligently studying English, and in approximately one year, has become a proficient and fluent speaker.
Mie’s Teaching Style
Mie focuses on delicious traditional Zen Macrobiotic Japanese food (shojin ryori). She obtains ingredients both grown wild in nature, and from local organic farmers and creates dishes that aid spiritual growth and development. She emphasizes the aesthetic beauty of grains and vegetables, utilizing few seasonings to bring out the full flavor and energy of the food. One of Mie’s specialties is brown rice sushi. Typically in Japan, sushi rice is seasoned with chemicals and sugar. However, Mie possesses a healthy and delicious “secret recipe.” Her Japanese dishes are artfully presented, also with a Zen flair.
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