COME BACK ANYTIME - A feature documentary
81 minutes | Japanese | Color and B&W | UHD 3840 x 2160
Experience a year in the life of self-taught Japanese ramen master Masamoto Ueda. Soak in the nostalgia at his legendary ramen shop, Bizentei, where the gregarious master has been serving his traditional Tokyo-style ramen to die-hard fans for more than forty years. And tag along with him and some of his regulars on their weekend culinary adventures across Japan’s picturesque countryside — harvesting gourmet pears, digging up bamboo shoots, mountain yams, and more.
Ramen master Masamoto Ueda smiles at something off camera in a shot from the film, Come Back Anytime.
Ramen master Masamoto Ueda works in his ramen shop kitchen, slicing green onions in a shot from the film, Come Back Anytime.
Ramen master Masamoto Ueda sits on a stump in a lean-to and holds a large wild mountain yam over a campfire flame while a friend looks on.
Ramen master Masamoto Ueda smiles at something off camera in a shot from the film, Come Back Anytime.
Masamoto Ueda
Takashi Tanaka is a Bizentei regular and a ramen fanatic who shares his thoughts and insights throughout the film. He is a founding member and bassist of the Japanese rock band, Sunny Day Service, which has been releasing albums for more than 25 years. He also composes music for television and is a host of the popular Japanese cable TV program, "Ramen Walker TV2." He enjoys trying many different kinds of ramen as he tours around Japan with his band. Between that and his TV show, he tells us he eats between 500-600 bowls of ramen per year!
Takashi Tanaka
JOHN DASCHBACH
Director-Cinematographer-Editor
Tokyo-based filmmaker John Daschbach’s award-winning fiction feature debut, BRIEF REUNION, starring Joel de la Fuente, Scott Shepherd and Alexie Gilmore, opened theatrically in the US and is now available on VOD and DVD. John’s previous short films have appeared in film festivals, movie theaters, and on television throughout the world. His short film, WAKING DREAMS, starring Ben Shenkman and Tina Holmes, was released on TLA Releasing’s DVD collection, Celebrity Mix.
FROM THE DIRECTOR:
This film is a lot of firsts for me: first film in Japan, first documentary, and first cinematography credit. It was a great pleasure to be invited to spend so much time with the Master and his regulars at Bizentei and to tag along with them on their adventures across Japan. I sincerely hope you enjoy watching the film as much as I did making it!
— John Daschbach
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.