The subtropical archipelago of Okinawa.

Stretching across the northern part of the main island - the dense forest of Yanbaru.

Captivated by the region's natural blessings is sweets artisan Nishio Megumi.

It's ripe!

She harvests local ingredients to make sweets.

Rose apples, an elusive fruit, in jelly.

Crystalized sugar flavored with coriander.

What's this?

It's so aromatic!

The subtropical spirit given shape into sugary treats.

It can't be ordinary.

It has to make an impression.

But an accident left Megumi with aftereffects such as memory disorder.

I can forget I turned on a burner, so I always set a timer.

Here is the story of a confectioner who strives to capture the preciousness and fleeting nature of life into her creations.

Shell ginger blossoms are a sign of early summer in Okinawa.

An evergreen perennial, this species of ginger is called "gettoh" in Japanese.

Said to have antiseptic and insect-repelling properties, Okinawans have long been using it in their daily lives.

Still green, it has a refreshing taste.

The seeds too when they're younger.

Nishio Megumi is a pâtissier and confectioner based here in Okinawa.

She's about to prepare something with the shell ginger she harvested.

I want more and more people to know about shell ginger blossoms.

I use no coloring or flavoring, only the natural color.

The fragrance of shell ginger as is.

I keep saying, "They're so cute."

The spiciness of ginger accompanied by a delicately sweet aroma - shell ginger nectar.

A refreshing taste of early Okinawan summer.

Focusing on the region's natural ingredients is at the heart of Megumi's philosophy on sweets making.

June.

At an herb garden in southern Okinawa, Megumi's friend Suetsugu Saki waits for her in the rain.

Sorry to bother you on another rainy day!

It's a season when herbs are in full fragrance.

Here, along with four other people, Saki grows herbs without the aid of chemical fertilizers.

A somewhat forgotten herb is now at its peak season.

How cute!

- They're budding.
- Yes. So cute!

This is a simpleleaf chastetree.

It's an herbal tree that grows in Okinawa, Southeast Asia, and Australia.

Bitter?

It's fine. A bit acidic.

In Okinawa, people used to soak it in liquor to make medicine.

I think no one uses it now. There's little documentation on it.

I could go to a store and buy the same herbs in bags.

The personality of the farmer affects the quality of the herb.

I like this herb from this producer, and that herb from that one, etc.

While the simpleleaf chastetree is still fresh, she uses it to make aromatic liquor for her confections.

She cuts the fruit in half to better extract its essence.

Along with the leaves, the plant is soaked in a distilled spirit.

A year later, it'll have turned into a liquor like this with the plant's signature rich fragrance.

In early summer, Megumi centers her sweets on the theme of aromas.

These are Ryukyu island pine shoots.

She makes sure to take out the harder fibers.

These white fibers.

They're too tough.

I do this for about two days.

After hours upon hours of mind-numbing work: she's left with tender pine shoots.

She kneaded plenty of them into this poundcake.

She flavors it with the year-aged aromatic simpleleaf chastetree liquor she prepared.

It gives off a faint smell of hinoki cypress.

For a finishing touch, some rosemary grown by Saki to add a bit of a refreshing aroma.

This cake may look simple, but a lot of thought and work goes into its confection.

A cake overflowing with the scents of the early summer forest.

Megumi sells her creations packaged in "sweet parcels."

Since 2019, she's been selling these boxfuls of original confections made with seasonal fruit and herbs.

One example is this crystalized sugar called "kohakuto."

She prepared it with plenty of coriander seeds.

The result is a peculiar sugar candy that releases the piquant flavor and aroma of coriander.

For another confection, she takes roselles from which she removes the seeds,

making sure to preserve their shape, then coats them in sugar water.

A ruby-red "flower candy" with a sweet and sour taste.

Megumi always includes in every box a description of her concept for each confection as well as how to best enjoy them.

She releases these Sweet Parcels irregularly and in limited quantities.

With no physical shop, she promotes her products on social media instead.

Every new box sells out in a flash.

It's thanks to those who order my parcels that I can make sweets.

Most customers are people I've never met, but they're important to me.

Among her regular customers are some who, with each new release,

introduce the appeal of Megumi's Sweet Parcels on social media.

One of them is Shin, who lives in Osaka.

For five years now, he's been ordering Sweet Parcels without ever missing one.

One that I particularly liked recently...

was this manjericão cake.

A bitter herb called manjericão, with cocoa and lemon.

It said she used a very bitter herb.

I was surprised.

But the taste was very invigorating.

It made me feel like I could overcome any bitter hardship.

It felt encouraging.

The bitterness that spread as I took a bite...

and the aroma. If I cleared my mind to focus on the taste and smell...

I felt I could understand what Megumi aimed to express.

Megumi captures the hearts and senses of many with her original sweets.

This passion for her craft began in Nara, the region in which she grew up.

With Megumi back for a visit to her parents' house after a long interval, the family cooks a meal together.

On their days off, they start to prepare lunch from early in the morning.

Can you mix this, Saeko?

One mom is not enough!

My mom's been carefully cooking the same recipes from her notebooks for 20 years.

But my dad cooks without thinking.

No, I do it by instinct!

Give me the lid!

Gotta do it like this.

We're thankful for the life we take.

Japanese mitten crab, a Nara specialty.

Sitting around a table brimming with fresh ingredients from the region.

It's a part of their everyday life, a family tradition Megumi's parents have preserved over the years.

These are my recipes for everyday meals.

Her mother's notebooks of recipes, compiled over thirty-seven years.

Her books on desserts were Megumi's favorite childhood reads.

I was amazed by the variety and how delicious and lovely they all looked.

She loved to bake the sweets featured in the volumes.

After university, she worked at an IT firm, but never gave up on her dream.

She went to study sweets making in France for five years.

Then, in 2017...

...she began to work at a unique chocolate shop in Okinawa that made their products using only cocoa beans and sugarcane.

It was thanks to an encounter with Hayashi Masayuki, the shop's founder and owner.

Including these lumps of brown sugar in chocolate, Megumi was creating one hit product after the next.

Just as her sweets-making skills were being recognized...

...a traffic accident suddenly put a stop to everything.

She sustained heavy trauma to her internal organs,

and underwent enough transfusions to almost entirely replace the blood in her body.

When I got there, she was in ER.

Her chances of survival were very low.

Her parents and I were told to prepare for the worse.

I didn't know what to say.

After a week teetering on the brink between life and death, Megumi finally regained consciousness.

She was hospitalized for over five months.

Alongside the physical pain was the anxiety that came from the uncertainty for her future.

She didn't show how hard she worked.

So, her biggest source of anguish was regarding sweets making.

She could hardly hold a spoon. How could she measure?

It was very frustrating for her. But she didn't let it show.

Megumi currently lives alone.

She now works solely as a freelancer.

Her income is rather unsteady.

I use the stove when a helper comes over, but I rarely use it.

I almost never cook here.

A helper comes to pick her up.

As she wishes to be more autonomous,

she applied for an evaluation for people with disabilities to see if she's fit to drive.

The aftereffects of her accident include higher brain dysfunction.

Megumi has difficulty making rapid decisions and memorizing information.

I'm confused. There's too much information.

Too much sensory input can easily overwhelm her.

- This is your very first evaluation?
- Yes.

Could you please speak a bit more slowly?

- I'm sorry. This is your first evaluation?
- Yes.

I'll explain the procedure.

- Can I have your contact info?
- My phone number?

What most take for granted can be a challenge for Megumi.

She's recently begun to work through her feelings and memories of the accident.

It's been a long time.

At the time, Dr. Hachiman Hironobu was the surgeon in charge of her.

How's your hand?

I can't grip things very firmly, or hold heavy objects.

From distress to gratitude, she expresses the emotions she'd held back since that fateful day.

When I didn't know how I could live on my own with my disability...

I often thought it would be simpler to be dead.

I was so close to the edge.

But I was saved. I can thank fate...

and the people close to me.

For me, I'm happy just to know that you're smiling.

Two years after her accident.

She had a friend take photos of her without concealing the scars from her injuries and surgery.

Accepting herself as she was, Megumi looked to the horizon and made a fresh new start.

Her experience gave her a deeper outlook on the essence of nature and life.

Long time no see!

Her joy of connecting with people who cultivate the blessings of nature grew stronger.

- It's so sweet!
- It's good!

After the accident, I was afraid to even pick a flower.

If I picked a flower, it would die. So, I became afraid of picking flowers.

The sweets I make have become simpler.

I used to focus on "using" ingredients.

Now, instead of just using ingredients, I feel I help customers experience them.

Megumi began to garner attention thanks to being featured in a book

compiling the work of five new groundbreaking sweets makers such as herself.

Still unfamous at the time, her named appeared alongside that of prominent pâtissiers and confectioners.

Megumi's innovative approach to sweets,

which highlights regional ingredients and the people who cultivate them, shone brightly in the limelight.

It was a famous chef who recommended Megumi to the book's editor.

A world-renowned and award-winning maestro of Italian cuisine.

Kobayashi Kanji.

Chef Kobayashi also grows vegetables and, not unlike Megumi,

insists on cooking using regional ingredients.

As I grow vegetables, I feel my garden teaches me so much...

like the best time to enjoy each ingredient.

I feel that's nature.

It's living with the land.

Kobayashi integrates local nature and culture in his cuisine.

And so, Megumi's passion for natural ingredients and the charming simplicity of her sweets resonated with him.

She harvests ingredients, and spares no effort, sometimes without resting.

Watching her inspires me to be better...

and put in my best effort.

To be close to nature, and spot the moment when each plant shines its brightest -

those too are important aspects of Megumi's work.

Today, she ventures into the forest of Yanbaru to look for rose apples.

Their peak time for harvest is very short, making them quite elusive.

Helping her is her close friend and forest exploring sidekick Higa Ryuichi, a native of the region.

Look, it's flowering. It's so fluffy.

Truly a plant of the myrtaceae family.

These rose apples are a variety of tropical fruit originated in South America.

The people of Okinawa call them "futo."

Sorry!

Thank you.

I can smell it.

It's nice. A bit small, though.

The scent of "futo."

People say "futo" smell like roses, but we say roses smell like "futo."

When I played in nature as a kid, my father taught me we could eat this.

I think any child in Yanbaru who played close to nature has tried this.

To those who grew up near Yanbaru, rose apples have a taste of nostalgia.

But these are still not ripe enough.

Nature doesn't always behave like one would expect.

- There aren't any more here.
- That's it.

Ryuichi is a black tea producer, winner of a national black tea competition three years in a row from 2017.

He says meeting Megumi changed the way he grows tea.

I focused on growing tea with a taste that specialists and sellers recognized...

as "the most delicious." But I realized I could be freer.

I began to think of ways to highlight the uniqueness of tea from this soil.

Megumi inspired me to think more deeply.

Sharing a mutual wish to promote ingredients unique to the region, Megumi and Ryuichi take part in various events.

They want to create a new world of flavors to enjoy.

Okinawa was hit once again by a powerful typhoon.

Now is the time for Megumi to prepare her sweet parcels for August.

She worries about the state of Yanbaru forest.

The shell ginger took a hit.

But nature is tougher than it seems.

Nature grows so fast. Among the torn leaves...

fresh new ones are already growing. Nature's vitality is amazing.

Even when torn to shreds, the plants recover, as if to mirror Megumi's own resilience.

Summer is the season when shell ginger bears fruit.

They're quite bitter, and so, they take a long time to prepare.

To better showcase their texture, she finely cuts them, and adds brown sugar for some sweetness.

She's preparing "muchi," a traditional Okinawan sweet made with rice flour and brown sugar.

Every winter, the people of Okinawa eat this traditional treat as they pray for health and longevity.

Megumi adds plenty of shell ginger fruit to her original "muchi."

She wraps it in the plants' young leaves.

Like this.

She ties it with string made with the fibers of, yes, shell ginger.

It's been a long time! Thanks for having me!

Come in!

The string to tie up the "muchi" was made by another of Megumi's friends: Sakihama Chiharu.

She's an artist who creates using Okinawan plants.

Megumi wanted to offer her some freshly made "muchi."

Seven years ago, Chiharu lost her then seventeen-year-old-son to a traffic accident.

Struggling to come to terms with his death,

Chiharu found a bit of solace in watching Megumi pursuing her passion

in spite of the aftereffects of her own accident.

When people are hurt, they inevitably lose their sense of direction and purpose.

Looking at Megumi who overcame, or rather accepted, her accident and stays positive...

I can't help but feel a connection. She motivates me to stay strong.

And by giving it all she's got...

I feel she can have a positive impact on other people's lives, too.

They should have ripened by now.

- The end of the rainy season is the sign?
- Maybe.

The rainy season is over.

Yanbaru has turned a deeper green.

- Nice.
- It's big.

It's ripe!

- More than last time?
- Yes.

A mix of rose and ginger.

Sweet! So sweet!

Yeah, so sweet.

There aren't enough to fill this basket. It can't be helped. That's nature.

I'll take the ripe ones, and work with what I've got.

When Megumi first moved to Okinawa, she heard of this fruit that smelled of roses.

It took her half a year to finally find some.

Rose apples hold a special meaning for her.

"This is it!" I said.

Its flavor and aroma. I couldn't believe such a fruit existed...

in the Yanbaru forest. It's such an amazing fruit.

Rose apples quickly lose their precious aroma.

There are no known recipes to turn them into sweets.

With her higher brain dysfunction, Megumi has difficulty sorting out the ideas that come to her mind.

She grows anxious.

I'm sorry. I can't focus.

It's too... I don't know.

Because of my brain dysfunction, I need to concentrate alone to form a good idea.

Megumi needed the time to put her thoughts and feelings together.

The life contained in the small fruit.

She imbues it in her creation.

Rose apples in clear jelly, as if bathing in a Yanbaru stream.

They give off their exquisite floral perfume in the mouth.

A special occasion important to Megumi is coming soon.

It's an event dedicated to shaved ice - a popular summer treat in Japan -

that will take place in her native Nara.

Megumi was invited to participate with some of her original creations.

For the occasion, she has a specific ingredient in mind:

muscovado brown sugar, made from sugarcane.

In Okinawa, its confection is four centuries old.

All around Okinawa Island are producers of this brown sugar that's been part of the islanders' lives over generations.

The village of Ginoza in the island's central region.

Living here is Toguchi Suguru, a brown sugar artisan.

The best season to harvest sugarcane is winter, when the sugar level is higher.

Yet, Suguru prefers its flavor in autumn.

That's because the plant's aroma retains some hints of earth and greenery.

This machine was bought second-hand by his grandfather thirty-five years ago.

When his grandfather passed away in 2013, Suguru worried for the survival of the traditional brown sugar making method,

and so he took over the business.

There are currently only three makers in Okinawa who still use firewood as a source of heat to boil the sugar.

Suguru is one of them.

The residue that floats to the surface is usually thrown away.

But to Megumi, it's invaluable.

- You want some?
- Yes! Can I?

Such a nice color!

Thank you. Yay!

This is so precious to me.

For us, it's something we throw away.

But she said it was tasty, like matcha. She was right!

I realized this girl was amazing.

Mixing in air gives it a softer texture.

It's hot!

Let's try it.

It's very sweet.

It nicely melts in the mouth. It has a bit of a caramel aroma.

A smoky aroma enhances the sweetness and grassy flavor.

Stuck to the pan is more brown sugar that's usually washed away.

But Megumi makes sure to collect it as well.

To thank Suguru, she improvises a simple yet very tasty snack of cream cheese with shavings from the sugar

and some of that sweet residue.

So good! I've never had anything like it!

Really good!

Right? A nice freshly-made aroma. I can taste the sugarcane.

Amazing!

For the event in Nara, Megumi has another ingredient she wants to obtain.

Three-hundred kilometers southwest of Okinawa Island is Miyako Island,

nicknamed "Miyako Blue" for the beautiful color of the waters lining its shores.

I think we're close.

There's a place where they evaporate seawater.

I think... it's here!

Yes! I recognize the trees.

She never forgot the salt she got here some time ago.

Oh, he's making salt!

Honma Ryosuke is an experienced salter.

From early in the morning, he heats up seawater to evaporate it and collect its salt.

It's a day-long process.

It shouldn't be much longer.

What Megumi came for are the first crystals that form on the surface of the seawater as it starts to evaporate.

They're called "fleur de sel," French for "salt flowers."

Precious and delicate crystals of salt like little white blossoms.

I can use my hands?

- Can you use this?
- Yes, thanks.

It tastes... like the ocean.

It's mellow, but it has the full flavor of salt.

It's really the taste of the ocean.

It's delicious!

I want to sprinkle a few grains on pastries.

Really?

It'd be so tasty.

I don't make that kind of salt.

Ryosuke produces extremely fine, powdery salt.

The crystals, he normally throws away.

A natural ingredient too often overlooked.

But Megumi knows the spark of life it holds.

October.

Deep into the autumn season in Japan's ancient capital of Nara.

The annual shaved ice event.

Over two days, about a hundred visitors gather.

A local pâtissier, Kumakura Shinji prepares his signature shaved ice,

the toppings of which are creations by Megumi.

A savory sweet sauce of ripened persimmons by a local farmer.

This ume plum sauce is sprinkled with bits of peel from an Okinawa citrus called "shiikuwasha" for a dynamic duo of tangy flavors.

Here are plum pit cores coated in white chocolate.

As always, Megumi seeks to bring out the natural flavors of each ingredient.

The last course features the two traditional Okinawan treasures she unearthed: salt and brown sugar.

Wow! The salt is a nice accent.

In one bite? It's a bit hard.

We thought we'd lost her.

But she came back to life.

We're glad.

She came back to make sweets for others.

With appreciation for the sacredness of life,

sweets artisan Nishio Megumi strives to imbue its essence in her artfully crafted treats.

Her journey continues.

I'm so thankful for nature.

For me, to use nature's ingredients...

I think my purpose is to give shape to those ingredients.

These moments, people and natural scenery, I want to preserve them into sweets.