Today, we’re introducing Daniel—an American everyone loves.
The stage is set at a popular eel shop in Kobe.
Don’t miss the cooking scenes of their top-grade eel dishes.
Daniel started learning Japanese thanks to anime.
At first, it was nothing but struggle.
“He came for an interview, but he couldn’t really speak—or get anything across.”
“So I was like, ‘Just come here for a sec.’”
“Like, ‘Can you do this?’”
Despite the language barrier, he trained hard from zero experience...
...and grew into a skilled eel craftsman.
Now he’s a key player—the shop’s ace.
Surrounded by coworkers and customers, he keeps growing every day.
Premium eel, and Daniel’s technique.
A heartfelt documentary full of laughs—please watch till the end.
“Was this interview for you?”
“Yep.”
“Isn't that some kind of mistake?”
“No way!”
“What are you talking about?!”
Early February morning—2°C.
Eel craftsman, Daniel.
He heads to where the eels are stored.
Here, fresh well water flows—an ideal storage spot.
He checks on the eels’ condition.
It’s freezing—his hands and ears almost hurt...
...but Daniel works with bare hands.
Look at how lively these eels are.
He selects the ones they’ll use today.
From each basket, he picks about three or four.
And he repeats this process over and over.
Today, they plan to take out 30 eels.
He records the remaining count and their condition.
His hands are turning red from the cold.
The task is complete.
We’ll arrive soon.
JKT）“Weren’t your hands freezing?”
“A little… just a bit.”
“My hometown is way colder.”
JKT）“Oh, really?”
“It’s around minus 15°C right now.”
JKT）“No way!”
We’ve arrived at the shop.
Unagi kabayaki shop “Nishimura Kawuo-ten.”
A popular shop selling premium eel at the counter.
Now, the eel preparation begins.
First, He split the eel open.
He remove the liver.
Next, he cut away the long thin bones.
Daniel works silently, fully focused.
With practiced hands, he keeps working nonstop.
He rinses the eel and removes tiny bones.
The task is complete.
Next is a step called “skewering.”
He pierce the eel with metal skewers.
This step is delicate—and very difficult.
They say it takes eight years to truly master.
The finish is beautifully done.
Next, it’s finally time to grill.
Flipping again and again, he grill it little by little.
The surface begins to brown beautifully.
He brushes on the sauce.
It looks absolutely delicious.
He layers on the sauce again and again.
An irresistible aroma fills the air.
Perfectly grilled.
Now, he prepares an eel rice bowl.
The owner, Mr. Nishimura, joins in to prepare the bowl.
Carefully prepared—this bowl looks incredible.
They wrap it up for the customer.
A job beautifully done.
Time for radio calisthenics.
They loosen up in a relaxed mood.
“Good morning!”
“February 3rd.”
“Most of the preparations are done.”
Daniel leads the morning meeting.
Even the owner seems to rely on him.
The shop is about to open.
He process the eel bones.
Even the bones can be eaten.
“You’re working hard today—what’s going on?”
“What are you talking about?!”
“You’re doing everything today!”
“You’re not usually this active.”
“Wait—what?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?!”
”He seems more focused than usual—quieter, too.”
“Hungover, right?”
“That’s gotta be it!”
He chops the bones with a knife.
The bones are grilled into crispy “hone-senbei.”
Daniel also handles customer service.
He has no trouble communicating in Japanese.
Even regular customers seem to remember him.
“Thank you very much!”
JKT) “You’ve learned most of the job?”
“Yeah! I can do everything.”
“I’m not great with phone calls.”
“They’re a bit hard to hear.”
“But besides that, I can handle it all.”
JKT) “Did you learn even the grilling here?”
“Nishimura-san taught me.”
“I can grill well, but I still have a long way to go.”
“Grilling is, um…”
“What was it again… ?”
“It’s ‘grill forever,’ right?”
“Yes! Grill forever!”
JKT) “Grill forever?”
“Remember that!”
“No way!”
“How many years was it?”
“Uh… three years for cutting!”
“Two years for skewering?”
“Eight years!”
“And?”
“Grill forever!”
JKT) “That’s the first time I’ve heard that!”
”When I first taught him how to grill…”
…he couldn’t really speak much Japanese. xplained things clearly.”
”In the eel world, there’s a saying: “3 years to cut, 8 years to skewer, a lifetime to grill.”
”I wanted to tell him how hard grilling is— but he couldn’t understand.”
”So I wondered how to say it in English.”
“Cut, three years.”
“Needle push, eight years.”
“Grill!”
“FOREVER!”
Then he went, “Oh! Forever!”
“That’s tough!”
“Did you get it?”
“Yeah, that’s when I understood.”
The English might’ve been a bit off, though.
”But I got the meaning.”
“You understood ‘grill forever,’ right?”
”He had to translate in his head the Japanese he heard.”
”When things got hectic...”
”When they gave rapid instructions— “Do this, do that”...”
”He would panic halfway through.”
”just freeze up. Like, “Ahhh...”
”You used to cry a lot back then.”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
”I didn’t study Japanese that much.”
”Only about two years.”
”So I understood the words... ut the meaning was...”
”I couldn’t translate it in my head.”
”So I would panic.”
”And no one really explained things clearly.”
”It was Osaka dialect— different from what I learned in school.”
”Yes, they used Osaka dialect a lot.”
”I didn’t know Osaka dialect at all.”
”But the first word I learned right away was…”
“Aho.”
JKT）“Everyone uses that here.”
JKT）“In Kansai, it’s not really offensive, right?”
“It’s not offensive!”
”You understood that part properly.”
”It’s not bad at all…”
”It’s just funny.”
Daniel has always loved cooking.
He even makes great tamagoyaki.
He places the eel on top.
It’s complete.
The knife glides through smoothly.
It looks incredibly delicious.
”When I was a child, I watched a lot of TV.”
”I watched anime at night.”
”Like Naruto and Dragon Ball.”
”And One Piece.”
”That’s how I started studying Japanese.”
”While going to school…”
”I studied Japanese on my own, but…”
”I couldn’t remember anything.”
”I just couldn’t do it.”
”Because I never used it.”
”In college, I decided to go to Japan."
"I worked hard and saved money so I wouldn’t burden my father."
"And then I came to Japan."
JKT) “Did you come to Japan planning to work from the start?”
JKT) “It wasn’t just a trip?”
“No.”
JKT) “So you came here to work from the beginning?”
“Yes.”
"It wasn’t my first trip abroad."
"I had been to places like Mexico…"
"But going somewhere truly far away was a first for me."
JKT）“How did he get started here?”
“I was introduced to him by an udon restaurant owner I know..”
JKT）“Udon restaurant??”
"He was looking for a part-time job when he went to Japanese language school."
"He found a part-time job posting at an udon restaurant online."
"He applied there."
"But they already had enough staff."
"Furthermore, he couldn't be hired"
"because he couldn't speak Japanese."
"Coincidentally, we knew the udon shop owner."
"At the time, we were struggling to find workers."
"Then we got a call from him."
“'An American just came in for an interview…'”
“'But we can’t really use him here.'”
“'He doesn’t speak Japanese at all.'”
“'Would you like to hire him in your store?'”
"I said, 'Want him? But he can’t speak Japanese, right?'”
“'Yeah, his Japanese wasn’t good at all. But…'”
“'He just seemed like a good guy.'”
"I was like, 'Oh, really?'"
"So I said, 'Alright, I’ll meet him once.'"
"I got his contact information."
"That was how it all started—with a phone call."
"He came for the interview, but…"
"We couldn’t really speak…"
“'Anyway, just come here.'”
“'This is what we do.'”
"I showed him."
“Can you do this?”
"Then I let him taste the eel we had just grilled."
“'This is what we make!'”
"He said, 'GOOD!'"
"And that’s where it all began."
"We worked hard with broken English and Japanese."
“I gave it everything.”
"There weren’t many English speakers here."
"Daisuke-san tried his best to teach me in English."
"His cutting technique is very good."
"He can handle about 100 to 120 eels an hour."
"That’s really impressive."
"Sometimes he’s even better than me."
"Though I still won’t lose at cutting."
"When I watch him grilling,I think, 'He’s really good.'"
"I love making bento boxes."
"I carefully arrange each one."
"When customers see a beautiful bento and think, 'That looks delicious,'"
"That's my happiness"
"That makes me happiest."
"JKT: It was a good thing Daniel came here."
"Yes, it really worked out in the end."
"Our first impression — that he seemed like a good guy — was absolutely right."
"We know what a genuinely good person he is."
Opposite the restaurant is a Japanese-style room called "Unagi Tabettei”
Customers can order and enjoy eel dishes here.
An order comes in.
Daniel serves the tea.
Mr. Nishimura prepares the eel for the order.
Watch his smooth, swift knife work.
From here, Daniel takes over the grilling.
A rich aroma fills the space.
Freshly grilled eel is served to the customer.
It's a very luxurious time
“I’m Daniel of the eel!”
“Nice to meet you!”
“Thank you for joining today’s eel shop experience, ‘Unazania’!”
Today is a hands-on work experience event.
First, they try holding a live eel.
The kids struggle quite a bit.
Next, they try cutting eel.
They also attempt skewering.
Daniel carefully guides them through grilling.
”I'll enjoy having this!”
How does the freshly grilled eel taste?
He seems very satisfied
“It’s seriously delicious.”
“It’s piping hot.”
“I didn’t know freshly made eel could taste this good.”
“I’m so glad!”
“It’s 50 times better than I imagined!”
“That’s great!!”
“Your dad will buy it for you anytime!”
“When he asks what you want, just say, ‘Eel!’”
After the busy hours, it’s staff meal time.
Today’s meal looks like a spicy pork and vegetable stew.
It’s starting to boil.
Perfect for a cold day.
This will warm you right up.
Everyone gathers around to eat together.
It feels just like a family dinner.
“Was this interview for you?”
”Isn't this some kind of mistake?”
“No way!”
“What are you talking about?!”
In the afternoon, more eel orders pour in.
It’s a three-person operation.
Fresh, steaming unaju—simply the best.
The popular Kobe eel shop, “Nishimura Kawuo-ten.”
I witnessed wonderful work filled with smiles and energy.
"Shin-Nagata in Kobe is a real downtown neighborhood."
"I hope he becomes someone loved by the community."
"For the children and locals here…"
"It’s wonderful that he’s accepted as the face of this eel shop."
"I truly hope he continues to thrive in this community."
"To my family, I'm having a lot of fun."
"I met a lot of good people."
"I hope anybody that sees this, including"
"my family and people that I don't know,"
"please come visit Japan！"
"because you will be surprised！"
JKT) “Do you have a favorite Japanese word?”
JKT) “Any favorite expression?”
“Nandeyanen!”
“That’s my favorite!”
JKT) “Maybe something a bit more…”
JKT) “Something stylish?”
Come on, there’s gotta be more!
Like “Friends,” for example.
You know…
At least “eel,” maybe?
Why is it “nandeyanen” of all things?!
Seriously…
There’s gotta be something else!
Daniel, thank you for the wonderful time!