Lunch ON! - Season 10 / Year 2021

We set up a video camera in the cafeteria of a company in Tokyo that makes all kinds of educational products. With the camera, equipped with a mic and speakers, we remotely interview the workers who sit down to eat lunch. First, we talk with a group of ladies who work from home a few days a week. Then, we talk with a man who used to travel across the country all the time for work. Since the pandemic, he's been unable to travel at all, so he eats an Okinawan dish to at least travel in spirit!

In the district of Tomonoura, Hiroshima Prefecture, there is a company that offers a golf cart taxi service. Even though the carts are slow, they have many advantages: their small size allows easy passage through narrow alleyways, and since there are no windows, it's easy to greet neighbors when passing them by on the street. We follow a man who drives this taxi, and discover where he always has delicious lunch.

Echizen Railway is a third-sector train company in Fukui Prefecture, a prefecture located on the coast of the Sea of Japan. Since with limited funds, it is difficult to rebuild stations and trains to make them more accessible, or make new facilities, the attendant program was introduced. Yamazaki Nanami is an attendant fresh out of high school, and even though the work is tough, she gets through it all with a smile thanks to the tasty bento her grandmother cooks for her every day.

The pandemic has been keeping our crew from filming, so we've been asking people to send in lunch reports they've filmed themselves instead. The thing is, we realized that there is an entire group of people in Japan who would be perfect for such reports: former TV directors. In this episode, we feature an excellent report by former TV director Ms. Yasuda, who now runs a company with her father that produces spicy cod roe. For lunch, Ms. Yasuda's father cooks up a wonderful meal for the staff.

Mr. Honma is a cheesemaker in Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost prefecture. Originally from a different part of Japan, he decided to establish his creamery in Ashoro Town, Hokkaido when he found the perfect milk to make cheese with there. And now, he lives next door to the dairy farmer who produces that perfect pasture-raised cow's milk. When it comes time for lunch, Mr. Honma uses his cheese with fresh scallops he traded his cheese for to make a pasta dish with a delicious, cheesy sauce.

The city of Amagasaki in Hyogo Prefecture, western Japan is home to the leading wrapped sake barrel manufacturer in Japan. The traditional barrel they make is called Komodaru, and it is often used for celebratory occasions. Each barrel is handcrafted carefully with rice straw. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for the barrel has plummeted, but even in such a difficult situation, the crafters are able to work hard, thanks in no small part to the delicious bentos they have for lunch.

Mr. Takahashi is a salesman who works for an insurance company in Tokyo. After he appeared in an episode of Lunch ON!, his performance at work has skyrocketed, and now, he is the top earner at the branch office he works for. Hearing about this incredible case from the head of the branch office, we decide to go visit Mr. Takahashi at work to find out more! And of course, we get a peek of the delicious rice balls his wife makes for him.

We visit a bus company that has been in business for over 100 years in the city of Ina, Nagano Prefecture, in central Japan. The company was hit hard in 2020 by the pandemic, and they were forced to cease all of their bus tours for several months. However, the bus guides didn't waste their time just sitting around in self-isolation. They instead got together to think of all-new, Covid-safe bus tours that would be appealing for local customers. Their hard work paid off, and after 6 months, the company was able to resume bus tours. We look at the hearty food served at their cafeteria.

Tsurumi, Osaka Prefecture, in western Japan is home to one of the country's biggest soap factories. Since the factory's establishment 112 years ago, they have made soap bars in gigantic vats through the same process. The old-fashioned method requires the professionals in charge to fully put their 5 senses to use to detect the slightest things that even high-tech machines cannot. And when it comes time for lunch, we join the professional soap makers at the company cafeteria to check out what they eat!

For 2 years, Miura Akiko, who works at a nursing home for the elderly in Shizuoka Prefecture, central Japan, enjoyed the bento lunch her mother made for her every day. However, Akiko will have to say goodbye to her mother's delicious bento, as she got married and will be moving out. As a way to thank her mother, Akiko asked the show to do a report on her mother because Akiko's mother is a huge fan of Lunch ON!

In another segment, we report on the last day of work for a university cafeteria cook who has dedicated 50 years of his life serving students delicious lunches, every day.

Mr. Sugimoto is a 67-year-old man who lives in Saitama Prefecture, eastern Japan. A year and a half ago, after his wife passed away, he began making bento lunch to take to work, every day. On the weekends, he sits down, cookbook in hand, to plan every bento he will make for the coming week. Every morning, after he cooks his bento, he sends a picture of it to his daughter who lives with her family in a faraway city. His daughter then sends an extremely detailed review of each bento. It is how the aging father who lives alone communicates with his beloved daughter, and the relationship they have is just beautiful.

We visit a tavern in Chiba Prefecture, eastern Japan, after hearing that the owner cooks delicious meals for his staff. The tavern is run by a couple, and they've been in business for over 20 years. However, business is now more difficult than ever due to the government's issuing of the state of emergency for COVID-19. Despite this, the couple has kept their doors open to not only make their regulars happy but to also keep business going for their trusted suppliers.

In this episode, we highlight the meals working people have late in the night. We first visit Haneda Airport in Tokyo to tag along with a cleaning crew that washes entire aircraft with hoses and mops. And then we hold our breath as things get extremely hectic at a TV shopping channel's call center during its busiest hour. We wrap up with a team of creative professionals who fight against the clock to set up an impressive display for a shop window at the heart of Tokyo before the morning comes.

We visit a veterinary clinic in Kyoto Prefecture, where once a month, healthy homemade lunch is served to the staff. Preparing the meals is a cooking instructor who used to be a veterinarian herself, and that is why she knows all too well how hard it is for busy vets to eat right. And the thing is that although the healthy staff lunch only comes around once a month, it has motivated many of the veterinarians to generally eat healthier, all the time!

We visit a liquor shop in Tokyo to find out about the staff lunch that has been tradition for 105 long years. The current company president's grandmother was the first chef of the company cafeteria, and today, the sixth chef to take charge, is a seasoned veteran who used to be head chef at a Chinese cuisine restaurant of a hotel. Although the company has been hit hard by the pandemic, the hearty lunch served at the cafeteria keeps the employees going strong.

A brewery in southern Japan that has traditionally produced sake and shochu is now developing gin to be added to its lineup, and it all began when the brewery started making high-concentration ethanol in 2020. There was a dire shortage of sanitizing solution in Japan at the time because of COVID-19, and the company used its shochu-making knowledge to meet the demand. Sometimes for lunch, the gin development team goes out to a café nearby. There, they enjoy good food and talk about gin!

A book distribution company in Tokyo moved into a new office, and with that, a new company cafeteria was opened in the new office building. We follow the in-house team tasked with handling the opening of the new cafeteria, as they set up thermometers and install acrylic dividers as countermeasures for COVID-19. After the lunch rush passes on the hectic first day of the new cafeteria, the leader of the cafeteria opening team finally sits down for a well-deserved, delicious tempura bowl.

Professional cellist Mr. Aso is just about to retire after spending 40 years playing for the Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra. For lunch, he has always brought bento that he packs. Now, it's important to note that he does not do any of the cooking, as his wife does that for him, but he greatly enjoys arranging the food in his bento box, even getting a kick out of sprinkling too many sesame seeds over everything and the particular way in which he closes the lid at the very end!

In Japan, there is a type of restaurant called "ryotei," where you can enjoy traditional Japanese cuisine and geisha entertainment. We visit one in Tokyo that has been unable to provide dinner service due to the pandemic. In such a difficult situation, the "okami," the Japanese word that refers to the woman in charge of a restaurant or inn, decided to sell takeout bento. And the bento service has allowed the restaurant to keep in touch with their regular customers during this difficult time.

We round up stories from the past to present a special episode on people who work on boats. Join us as we first hop on a ferry to check out the hearty meal the chef on board cooks for the crew every day. Then, we visit a fishing town where the local women get together to make heartfelt bento lunch for the fishers to take out to sea. To finish off, we go to a shipyard where the company president supports his workers by cooking up an all-original fried noodle dish for them during the busy season!