Machiko Tateno, dietician, cookbook author, and teacher, passed away after a long illness, on May 1, 2022 at the age of 48. Machiko-san became a Tuttle author with her award winning Japanese Pickled Vegetables, published in October 2019. This book introduced the art and science of making Japanese pickles to a global audience.
The daughter in a family of multi-generations of farmers, Machiko began her career as a registered dietician. Her love of eating and preparing healthy, high-quality food led her to become a chef as she took a year of study at the Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland. The school under scored her passion for “farm to table,” eating and cooking. Later she became a food stylist, executive chef at a restaurant in Tokyo and the author of several cookbooks in Japanese. Along with her friend and colleague Kaoru Shibata, Machiko taught foundational home style Japanese cooking to an international audience in Tokyo through their cooking school Kitchen Nippon. Her home was her refuge and laboratory with an extensive garden that enabled her to cook, pickle and ferment with her own produce.
Machiko was vibrant and talented and had much more to give. Her influence will live on through her beautiful books and recipes.
May 9, 2022
