Tokyo: this world-class metropolis is a veritable gourmet wonderland.

Discover the stories behind the ingredients that make this city so delicious - so "oishii."

This time, it's all about butter.

Surprisingly, it has a rich history in Japan and it's produced in several regions.

"Oishii."

Join us in Hokkaido, Japan's largest butter production area.

Wow! Check out this view!

Want some?

Also, visit a centuries-old restaurant to see how butter is used in traditional recipes!

There's a party in my mouth.

I love it.

Discover more about why butter is loved just as much in Japan as it is anywhere else.

Trails to Oishii Tokyo.

Hi, I'm Michael Keida.

I've been in Japan for 19 years.

I'm originally from America.

This time we're going to be talking about butter.

Now, when I think of butter, I think of the West,

but apparently Japan has had a long and deep culture of butter since around the samurai.

So, let's go check it out.

Michael begins at a baking supply shop in Setagaya, Tokyo.

- Hello.
- Hi.

I'm Michael.
Thanks for your time today.

I'm Nagao. Nice to meet you.

You have many kinds of butter.

We have a lot of types for baking,
from both Japan and overseas.

Butter expert Nagao Ayano is familiar with over 160 brands, both Japanese and international.

She picks out butter from four domestic regions for Michael to try.

He'll taste one from Sado Island in Niigata first.

Wow. It's got very mild flavor.

Smooth. It just kind of slowly unravels in your mouth.

It has a mild flavor.
Not so thick.

It's white and mildly rich.
That's a key characteristic.

Sado Island is located in the Sea of Japan.

Dairy cows there feed on mineral-rich grass.

The grass is light in color.

That naturally gives the butter a lighter shade as well.

Next, Michael tries one from Iwate in northern Japan.

I don't know if you can see this, but the color is quite more profound.

The yellow color comes from the carotene
of grass and nuts grown in the mountains.

This ranch in eastern Iwate takes advantage of the natural mountainous terrain,

and doesn't raise cattle on flat pastures.

The cows eat wild grass, producing milk that makes rich, aromatic butter.

This has a richer dairy aroma.

It's what I'd expect from butter.

This butter is made from the milk of Jersey cattle raised on Tokyo's Hachijo-jima, Island.

And this is from the warm southern island of Kyushu.

Japan is home to around 70 butter factories.

Just having butter come from a different area, a different prefecture,

completes a totally different flavor and melt point.

Couldn't have imagined there'd be so much difference in each one.

Dairy came to Japan along with Buddhism around the 6th century.

It's said that a product resembling butter called "so" was produced at the time.

Butter as we know it today appeared during the Edo period.

Shogun Tokugawa Yoshimune began raising his own dairy cattle after falling in love with the butter made by Dutch merchants.

That's said to have paved the way for domestic dairy farming.

Butter spread to the public during the Meiji era.

As dairy production increased, butter began popping up more on Japanese dinner tables.

Most Japanese butter is unfermented.

In Europe, on the other hand, most is fermented.

Being unfermented allows the flavor of the raw milk to come through.

Michael is now off to Hokkaido, Japan's top region for butter production.

Wow.

Check out this view!

It's absolutely incredible.

This is Lake Mashu, known as the clearest lake in Japan.

Nearby, there's a factory that boasts the largest share of the Japanese butter market.

Hello. I'm Michael.

Hi, I'm Kimura, the general manager.
Nice to meet you.

What a large plant!

- It's around 70,000 square meters.
- That's big.

We get around 500 metric tons of milk each day.

What? How much?

- 500 metric tons each day.
- That's a lot...

Each day, the factory makes around 170,000 pieces of butter for domestic use.

That's one of the largest production scales in all of East Asia.

A portion is exported to Thailand and Taiwan.

This is great.

Over here.

Do you often have TV crews visit?

No, this is the first time.

- Oh, are you nervous?
- Not yet.

This is the separation and sterilization room.

Wow.

So many different pipes.

It's hard to wonder, you know, which one's going where, and what the... you know...

I'm sure each one has a purpose, but...

Wow.

Using this machine, we separate
dairy farm milk into skimmed milk and cream.

The raw milk is quality checked as soon as it arrives by tanker truck.

Bacteria content is determined using a microscope.

Milk that passes the close inspection is used to make butter.

First, it goes into this machine, where cream and skimmed milk are separated.

The cream is then used to make butter.

To see what's going on inside,
you can look through here.

Ah, you can see the butter just kind of tumbling around inside there.

Wow. Amazing.

The cream is churned into butter granules that eventually form large clumps.

The clumps are mixed into smooth strings.

Salt is also added during the process.

Absolutely looks so delicious.

I just want to reach my hand in there and bite into it.

Raw milk and salt is all it takes!

Fresh butter is ready in no time.

This is freshly made.

See how soft it is?
It's like soft clay.

Wow.

Looks tasty!

This is the butter you saw earlier.

Back in the plant?

Right, freshly made butter.
Please, open it and try some.

- It's soft.
- Right.

Different from what I buy at the store.

It has the feel and texture of cookie dough, almost.

Yeah, look at that. It's just so soft.

And the color... just a light yellow to it.

I think I could eat this whole...

I can taste the milk.
I've never had butter like this.

As a natural ingredient, milk has
hundreds of aromatic compounds.

Those come out in the butter.

That aroma you get when you put
butter into a frying pan.

It comes right out.

There's also a light, aromatic
aftertaste when eating it.

That complexity comes from
the many aromatic compounds.

Because the cows have a varied diet.

Right. Their diet affects the milk,
and the milk's flavor affects the butter.

And flavors vary by location.

We have three plants in Hokkaido,
each producing subtly different flavors.

In fact, everyone in the company says our
butter is better than the other factories.

The raw milk's quality apparently has an impact on the butter's flavor.

Michael heads to a ranch that supplies raw milk to the plant he visited.

Hello! Welcome to Hokkaido!

- I'm Watanabe. Nice to meet you.
- Thanks for having me.

Watanabe Takayuki raises 120 dairy cows near Mt. Mashu.

Why here?

The vegetation.

His cows feed on natural grasses, with no fertilizers or pesticides.

The cows here are very relaxed.

Yeah, it's a stress-free environment.

This is near Kussharo, a caldera lake
in Akan Mashu National Park.

You can see we're surrounded by mountains.
All around us.

The mountain behind my neighbor is Mt. Mashu.
To the left is Mt. Io and Lake Kussharo.

Milk from barn cattle and grazing
cattle tastes completely different.

They're in fresh air here.

Breathing clean, fresh air makes a difference.

It makes tastier milk, but also
secondary products like butter.

Michael gets a milking lesson.

This part of the belly that looks
like a hose is a big blood vessel.

A blood vessel?

The blood sends nutrients here,
where milk is made.

Squeeze up here to stop the flow,
and use the index finger to release milk.

Thanks, Nami!

Here's the milk.

Hi, Nami.

Very good!

Watanabe brings over milk that's been sterilized.

- Cheers, Nami!
- "Itadakimasu!"

That's so good. It's just got such a light flavor,

almost as if I can taste the clover in there, and all the different things that they're eating.

It's got just a light milkiness to it.

- Rich and refreshing, right?
- Yes.

Now for something truly unique to Hokkaido.

These are from Toyotomi Onsen in northern Hokkaido.

Local milk and other ingredients are blended together to make flavored butter treats.

All the ingredients are locally sourced.

Michael tries one that's made with "kombu" kelp!

Interesting.

It has a dessert-like sweetness.

It's a box filled with the
natural charms of Hokkaido.

Exactly as she's saying.

Delicious!

I've had butter from around Japan,
and they all tasted different.

But Hokkaido alone has many differences.
It's amazing. I'll keep coming back for more!

Please, come back. Thank you.

- That's a firm handshake!
- You too.

Strong hands.

Back in Tokyo, Michael heads to a shop selling desserts that were a direct result of butter production.

Tell me about your products.

These are sweets made from skimmed milk.

90% of the milk left over from butter production
is sold at a discount as skimmed milk.

100 grams of milk only makes about 4 grams of butter.

The remaining skimmed milk is sold off at low prices.

The brand began making sweets as a way of putting some of that milk to good use.

It's used to make every part, even the creamy filling.

Many of our customers are concerned with
environmental issues like sustainability.

- That's important. Sustainability is a key issue now.
- Right.

Makino gives Michael permission to try one that's salted caramel flavored.

Here you are.

Check out the packaging. It's like... it's made out of butter foil.

That's so beautiful.

"Itadakimasu."

It's so good.

It's got sweetness to it, but there's a buttery, milky flavor in there.

And there's like a crunch of sugar inside.

"Oishii."

Michael's final stop is a Japanese restaurant established in 1830.

- Welcome.
- Hello.

- How nice.
- Thank you.

Wonderful.

At a traditional restaurant, butter - a modern food - has taken on a surprising role.

Abalone from Miyagi, butter roasted.

Sounds great.

It's so beautiful.

It's just got a very light medley of flavors.

There's a little bit of the butter in there, and I can taste a little bit of the...

just a tad of bitterness from the innards.

Liver can be bitter, but
this is balanced perfectly.

Abalone is tricky to prepare
because it has a fishy smell.

To work around that, you put in liver paste,
then add some melted butter later.

But I don't fully eliminate
the bitterness of the abalone.

The skimmed butter helps cut it.

What do you mean?

The butter softens the punch of the liver.
It gives it a mellower flavor.

It softens bitterness and brings out flavor.

That synergy makes the dish tasty.

Where does that knowledge come from?

Trial and error.

Next up: steamed "hamaguri" clams with butter.

In this recipe, butter is combined with sake.

How does it taste?

The aroma's just incredible.

"Itadakimasu."

Very plump.

Wow.

Oh, my goodness.

It's just this warmth and burst of flavor, it just explodes in your mouth,

and that butter just kind of pokes through at the end.

It's cooked in sake,
and the butter provides aroma.

I'd never think to pair sake with butter,
but it's a great match.

The sake is heated first to
remove the alcohol content.

That gives it more umami and sweetness.
Then you cook the clams and add butter.

That allows the sake and butter to work well together.

The size and shape of the butter he uses depends on the recipe.

The decision is based on the quality of ingredients used that day, and how quickly the butter should melt.

Last up is rice cooked with corn, and seasoned with butter and soy sauce.

- There's a party in my mouth.
- Oh yeah?

It's amazing.

It's so sweet.

The corn just... the sweetness of it penetrates through there,

but it's kind of followed along with a little bit of saltiness from the soy sauce,

and the butter rounds it out.

"Oishii."

The rice is sweet, and so is the corn.

Then there's sweetness from the butter,
which locks in aroma.

Other oils like sesame have strong aromas
that don't accent rice's flavor well.

- Butter is like a hidden ingredient.
- Hidden?

You put in just a little,
barely enough to notice.

But when you eat the food,
you get a hint of butter aroma.

A secret weapon. How cool.

Finally, Michael returns home.

Waiting for him there is his very own farm.

Using the knowledge he gained on his recent butter journey, he'll gather some vegetables and start cooking.

I've got some dill...

and some nasturtium flowers.

Put that in there.

I've got some elephant garlic, or "jumbo ninniku."

It's got a much milder flavor.

I'm just gonna squeeze a little bit of the juice in there because I don't want it to be too overpowering.

And for this I chose to use the Niigata Sado butter.

This had the most mild flavor when I tasted them,

and I thought what a great way to accent the flavors of all the herbs and the flowers.

Okay.

Alright, let's see how our vegetables are doing.

So next I thought I'd make some hollandaise sauce,

and I've chosen the Iwate butter because it has a nice milky flavor.

I thought that'd be perfect for balancing off the sourness of the lemons in the hollandaise sauce.

And I like my hollandaise sauce with a little bit of punch to it so I put quite a lot of lemon juice in.

It needs to thicken a little bit, so I'm going to slowly add some oil to it.

Finally, he melts a large amount of butter in a frying pan to make his version of a popular Japanese snack.

It's butter roasted squid!

Smells amazing!

The dried squid soaks up the melted butter.

Okay, all ready to try out my goodies with the Japanese butter.

Three homemade butter dishes ala Michael.

Wow.

As I thought, the milkiness of that butter really offsets the sourness of the lemon, and just creates a perfect medley.

And it really lets the flavor, the natural flavor, of the zucchini come out.

It's so good.

Next, I'm gonna give a shot to this... just beautiful.

That's the best garlic bread I've ever had.

The flavor of the butter, it's so mild.

It just lifts the fragrance of the dill and the pepperiness of the nasturtium.

And last, but certainly not least, my favorite snack: butter fried squid.

The sweetness of the butter, it kind of balances off the fishiness of the squid, making for just the perfect late snack.

I'm really excited.

This show has really opened my eyes to the difference of what...

Japanese butter compared to what I've already known from the West.

I'm certainly going to start incorporating this into my cooking a lot more often.

Butter makes life better, obviously.

In Tokyo, every ingredient has its own story.