COME BACK ANYTIME
The story of the master who created a community in Tokyo, one bowl of ramen at a time
One of the sweetest and most enjoyable films of the year. It will restore your faith in humanity.
Graeme Tuckett Stuff.co.nz
ABOUT THE FILM
Self-taught ramen master Masamoto Ueda and his wife Kazuko have run their Tokyo ramen shop, Bizentei for more than forty years. Together with their customers, they have created a welcoming place of community. On the weekends, they venture together across the Japanese countryside, harvesting pears, bamboo shoots, and wild mountain yams. An intimate portrait of Japan’s culture of food, community, and work, COME BACK ANYTIME features gorgeous scenery, mouth-watering dishes, and a delightful cast of regular customers. It’s a heartwarming reminder of life’s simplest pleasures: a delicious meal, relaxed conversations with friends, and a special place to call one’s own.
81 minutes | Japanese | Color and B&W
Locations: Japan’s Chiba, Niigata, Tochigi, and Tokyo Prefectures
THE FILMMAKERS
JOHN DASCHBACH
Director-Cinematographer-Editor
John is a Tokyo-based American filmmaker who fell in love with film at the Dartmouth College Film Society while growing up in Hanover, NH. After studying literature in college, he dove into film editing while studying with legendary editor, Ralph Rosenblum at Columbia University. After embracing the digital revolution of the late 90s, he’s been making independent films, and editing others’, ever since. COME BACK ANYTIME is his second feature, first documentary, and first cinematography credit.
WATARU YAMAMOTO
Producer-Interpreter
Wataru Yamamoto is a freelance writer, editor, interpreter, and translator. A native Japanese speaker, he is also fluent in English. Previously, he was an editor of AERA ENGLISH magazine in Tokyo and an editor in New York of U.S. FRONTLINE NEWS, North America's most widely-read Japanese language periodical. Over the years, he has enjoyed interviewing Mark Hamill, Ken Loach, François Ozon, Rian Johnson, Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Shunji Iwai, Luc Jacquet, Audrey Tautou, Tony Leung Chiu-wai, Kyōko Kagawa, Christopher Doyle, Tamlyn Tomita, Sarah Wayne Callies, Nick Cave, Lisa Loeb, Jake Shimabukuro, and others.
Filming a Feeling: An Interview with John Daschbach
August 31, 2021 | Critics Campus Interviews - Melbourne International Film Festival blog.
Despite having known Ueda for several years by the time of filming, Daschbach and producer-interpreter Wataru Yamamoto had no idea if the chef would consent to being involved, let alone what the film would look like. Daschbach recounts: “When we started, I said, ‘Look, I have never made a documentary before. I don’t know what this is going to be; I am going to shoot all of it myself and it might fail.’ Ueda replied that, at the very least, there would be something to show at his funeral. more →
Listen to the director and producer discuss making COME BACK ANYTIME with New York-based food writer Akiko Katayama on her Japan Eats! podcast.
Listen to selections from the soundtrack by Michael Shaieb and Brent Lord
Watch COME BACK ANYTIME online now!