Celebrating Just One Cookbook’s 10th Anniversary. Get to know the team and some exciting plans for JOC in 2021!
This January 1st marks Just One Cookbook’s 10 year anniversary (yay!). This 10th-year milestone means so much to all of us from the team, and perhaps also the readers who have been with us for a very long time. So on this day, I’d like to share our visions of JOC for this and next year or two.
First, Much Gratitude
I want to take a moment to express our deepest gratitude to you on behalf of the JOC team. Thank you for choosing our site when you are cooking Japanese food, when you are researching your upcoming travel destinations in Japan, or when you miss Japan and read everything about its cuisine and culture.
Every day we receive messages from all over the world with your heartwarming stories about what dishes meant to you and your family, how JOC helped reconnect to your roots or bring back fond memories, and how much you learned about Japanese cuisine, especially in 2020. These stories are what fuels us to keep cooking, creating, and sharing delicious adventures with you.
To many of you who connect with us on social media — whether it’s Facebook, Instagram, or Pinterest — Thank YOU. Because of you, we have an engaging and supportive community. Your participation also helps others who are new to Japanese cooking feel welcomed and inspired.
Mr. JOC and I started off this food blog 10 years ago as a hobby to help our friends cook, and we never ever imagined this website would be visited by 75 million readers over this span of time! Your support means the world to us.
What to Expect in 2021
With a new year and a new beginning for another decade milestone to achieve on my mind, I’ve listed some of the big plans and smaller plans for this coming year.
Big and exciting plans!
- Update our site with unit conversion (easy toggle), nutrition information, and more.
- Offer ad-free subscription membership. We’re currently working hard to launch this service.
- Publish JOC ebook volume 2.
Smaller yet important plans!
- Focus on easy, home-cooked dishes that are not too well-known outside of Japan.
- Add more reader-requested recipes.
- Continue with more vegan and vegetarian recipes.
- Adding more videos to our YouTube channel (maybe achieving 1 million subs this year? Am I too ambitious?).
While I work on developing solid recipes and writing the instructions on the blog, Mr. JOC is constantly working to improve the website. This brings me to the next topic.
Re-Introducing Who’s Behind Just One Cookbook
Just like all other blogs, Just One Cookbook started as a passion project of mine to translate all my recipes (written in Japanese) to English and store them all in digital format (sounds so old 👵🏻). I did get occasional help from Mr. JOC late at night or on weekends for technical issues, but it was pretty much a one-woman show.
Our first team member Kayoko joined us in the summer of 2016, and then Reese a few months later. As the workloads increased, we gradually expanded the team. Fast forward today, we have a team of 7 awesome members that I’d like to introduce today. Some of them are on part-time or project-basis, but each of them plays important roles. Now you know I’m not a superwoman doing everything by myself.
- Reese – She is our marketing manager and contributing writer. Reese also wears many hats behind the scene, and sometimes she makes sure I get up and stretch. She helps me responding to piles of emails, too!
- Kayoko – Based in Tokyo, Kayoko shares her deep knowledge about Japanese cuisine by contributing food-related articles to JOC.
- Morgan – She manages JOC’s Facebook and Instagram accounts, making sure our community a fun and safe place for delicious exchanges.
- Naomi – She’s our readers’ support. When you leave a comment on the blog, she will answer your questions. Naomi is also an amazing cook and we love trading food with each other.
- Seimi – She’s our copy editor. When she’s not busy with her master’s degree in creative writing, she helps to update our older posts.
- Richard – He makes short videos for our social media.
- Kylie – She’s our very first intern while attending college. She’s been working closely with Mr. JOC to learn various aspects of blogging.
I hope you get to know them! You can read more about our team on this page.
Just in case you’re wondering what Mr. JOC and I do all day besides walking Miso…
- Nami – I am responsible for all things recipe-related; I develop recipes, take pictures/videos of them, and write blog posts about them. Recipes on JOC is one thing that I do not delegate to anyone.
- Mr. JOC – He’s the tech, finance, and operations person behind JOC. He is also in charge of video filming and travel content, and my well-being.
Answering FAQs
Since we receive some of the same questions regularly, I want to address them here.
Q: Do you have a hardcover cookbook?
A: We appreciate your strong interest in our hardcover cookbook and I hope we can do it someday. We currently don’t have a plan as we dedicate our time to the blog and many other projects.
The good news is we’ve made our e-book printable on-demand, and you can order the print copy of our ebook here (or ebook version). We’re also releasing volume 2 of our ebook (also printable) very soon!
Q: Do you have this Japanese recipe?
A: Interestingly, many of the recipes requested are on the blog already. We have a SEARCH box on the top right corner of the website. To look for a specific recipe, just type in the name, an ingredient, or any keyword of the food you’re looking for. Chances are we may already have the recipe for it.
You can also use a Recipe Filter to narrow down your recipe search. If it still doesn’t work, use Google to find “just one cookbook (recipe/ingredients name).”
If I haven’t shared a particular recipe, we will file your request and review it.
Q: Which ingredient brands do you recommend?
A: We have a resourceful Pantry Page on Just One Cookbook where you can learn about the ingredient, the product recommendation (with picture), and usage (how we use it in the recipes).
Q: Where do you buy this kitchen tool/tableware etc from?
A: You can find many of my recommendations on favorite items such as kitchen tools, essential Japanese pantry, household items, and more on our Amazon Shop. Whenever I have a new discovery, I will update the list so you may enjoy browsing from time to time. You can find this shop link on the menu bar of our website.
Most tableware (plates, bowls, chopsticks, etc) is from Japan. Recently a big Japanese furniture/home accessory store Nitori opened a new online store called Aki Home in the U.S. where you can purchase some Japanese-style cookware/tableware.
Q: Why are most of your giveaways open for the US only?
A: I wish we could offer more international giveaways too! But since we’re based in the US, naturally we get most of the sponsorships from US-based companies. Having said that, we do occasionally run giveaways for our global readers. When I host a giveaway myself, it’s always for everyone worldwide. You just need to keep an eye out or subscribe to our newsletter so you won’t miss it!
Q: Can you remove the advertisements?
A: The advertisements are the primary source of our income in order to provide free content and support to you. However, we do make sure that the ads are not excessive and bothersome.
Your readership means everything, and it’s our goal to make sure you have the best experience while browsing our site. This year alone we’ve removed three ad units after accessing feedback from readers. It means a big cut but we want you to know that we care.
The majority of food blogs and websites have advertisements. Some may have less because they have another stream of income. But please know that we work with a reputable publishing company. If you encounter any unpleasant ad, please take a screenshot and send it to us. We always reach out to the publisher so they could have it resolved.
Say Hi or Share Your Feedback Below
Again, thank you so much for being here, whether you’re a long-term reader or are just stopping by. Feel free to leave a comment below to say hi.
Sending you lots of love and I hope 2021 brings you everything you wish for!
Warmly,
Nami & JOC Team
Congratulations on 10 years! I’ve been a proud follower of JOC since 2014 and have enjoyed expanding my repertoire of Japanese dishes over these years and learning more about the amazing country I dream of visiting one day. Thank you for everything you share with your readers and followers.
Hi Tere! Thank you for reading my blog for a long time and for your continued support. I do hope that you can visit Japan one day! So happy to hear you can now cook more Japanese recipes at home. It made me so happy! 🙂
Congratulations on 10 years! If only I had discovered you earlier, but now I have found you I now have so many recipes to make my family happy. I made the Miso Butter Cookies as part of my Christmas selection and they were loved by everyone. I particularly love your step by step instructions with photos, so very helpful to both beginner and experienced cooks. Thank you for all the hard work!
Hi Lea! Thank you so much for your kind words. I’m happy to hear you found my site! I’m a visual person, so I wanted to include step-by-step pictures for people who never cooked Japanese food and don’t know how it should look like while cooking. 🙂 I’m glad they are helpful! We almost gave up taking pictures at one point (it requires extra time…) but glad we kept them! Thank you for your support, Lea!
Congratulations on your success while creating this incredible Japanese cooking/travel/culture blog. I am a student of regional cuisines, and I find this platform to be the best and most authentic resource for Japanese cooking. You built it in a very thoughtful, modular way that help users master the basic elements of Japanese cooking (dashi, various noodle types, …) and quickly move on to preparing more complex Japanese dishes. Thank you!
Your future expansion plans are spot on. I would most happily pay for an upcoming ad-free membership option to support your platform, rather than funnel money to YouTube/Google. I am also excited about your plans on publishing more authentic, home-cooked dishes not typically known outside of Japan. It is these everyday home-cooked dishes, developed over centuries, that are the backbone of every ethnic cuisine.
And finally, please, please, please keep your recipes focused on authentic Japanese cooking, as you do today. Don’t let it ever devolve into “contemporary” recipes that bastardize the original authentic recipes, as it so often happens with other ethnic cooking blogs.
Thank you!
Hi Kerel! Thank you for your kind and encouraging message. You made me feel like we’re doing the right thing. Hahaha!
Well, it’s been a lot of trial and error, and at one point, we felt we had to introduce more “westernized” or “western” dishes that the “majority” of readers (back then) were looking for… That’s when Pinterest was a popular social media for food blogs and we barely gained any traffic from Pinterest (probably over 5+ years ago). We did give it a try, but I just didn’t feel right. So I insisted (and fought with Mr JOC) that I only wanted to share what Japanese home cooks would cook for family.
It was really hard in the beginning because Japanese recipes weren’t searched by many people and people haven’t started to travel to Japan yet. But slowly, many people learn about all the dishes they tried in Japan and started to look for them online. I’m glad I followed my intuition that time, but it was also pure luck (but at least I was true to myself).
JOC is also a collection of my family’s favorite recipes (beyond Japanese food) that I want to pass down to my kids, so you may find non-Japanese savory and dessert recipes occasionally, especially around the holidays when we celebrate American holidays with our American-born kids. But I only know how to cook Japanese food top of my head and that’s what I cook daily, so the majority of recipes on JOC will be still Japanese. And I’m old fashioned and not so creative in making contemporary recipes, so you don’t need to worry about that part. 🙂
Mr. JOC will be happy to hear that you’re interested in the ad-free membership option! We’re trying to launch earlier this year (in 1-2 months for testing), and let us know (email us) if you want to be the first few guineapigs. We won’t let our readers know until it works properly. 🙂
Thank you so much again for writing!
Hi Nami,
I completely understand the business/market considerations you have to juggle. You do an excellent job of balancing them, yet keeping your food blog unique, authentic and valuable. That will always be attractive.
Again, congratulations on your anniversary and to more future success!
I have already emailed you with my interest your ad-free trial.
Congratulations Nami! I am so proud of you and the success you have had. Loved seeing the members of your team. I need to email Reese because I do miss her and thrilled to see she is doing well and you two are still working together. The picture of your photography setup took my breath away! My husband is a DP in film production and it looks like some of the sets he works on. I can’t believe we’ve both been on this adventure together for 10 years, yours becoming a business and mine just being a hobby. It’s been fun following your site, making some of your recipes and watching you become so successful, deservingly so. In fact I saw one of your recipes in a magazine roundup this morning on flipboard. (Can’t remember the magazine). Congratulations my dear friend!!!
Hi MJ! You’re one of the few sweetest friends I’ve met through blogging (Reese included!) and also one of the reasons I miss earlier blogging days when I enjoyed dairy chatting with my blogger friends. I got busier with kids, the blog, and now a puppy, and it’s been a bit struggle to do everything I wanted to do in a day. Reese will be so excited to hear from you (it’s reese @ justonecookbook.com, without space). Thank you for your kind words – you know, photography and filming have always been trial and error for us, and I feel like I’ve never felt good enough. We’ve known each other for almost 10 years, as I feel I “met” you pretty soon after I started blogging. You and your blog have inspired me to be a better blogger. I learned about grits and chile from you for the first time, and when I hear about New Mexico or food from there, I always think of you. 🙂 xo Thank you again, and congratulations on your 10 years too! Let’s celebrate 20 years again together!!!
Thank you Nami for such a sweet reply! It’s been a good 10 years hasn’t it? Talk about learning from each other…I never made noodle bowls until I met you and now Ramen is a staple in this house. I’ve learned so much about Japanese cooking and Asian cooking in general, that I have ingredients in my house now that I didn’t even know about before. 10 years ago – Mirin? What the heck is Mirin? Now I’m lost without it. 🙂 Love the mirin/soy marinated eggs for ramen. YUM! A puppy? Like your life couldn’t get anymore chaotic? Ha Ha. Well at least the kids are old enough now to take on most of the responsibility for its care. I, too, look forward to celebrating our 20 year anniversary and all of the wonderful recipes shared between now and then. Take care, stay safe and stay happy my dear friend.
The minute you launch your subscription service I’ll be there! I make your recipes several times a week so I feel like I should have been paying you this whole time.
Hi Brent! I’m so happy to hear you enjoy my recipes! Mr. JOC is extremely excited about this whole new project and has been working hard since last year. We want to provide the best experience possible. We’ll slowly launch this service earlier this year, so if you’re interested in being one of the first ‘guineapigs’, send us an email. 🙂
Congratulations and thank you so much for your hard work! I’ve used a couple of recipes from your blog and they always turned out good, and when I couldn’t make something, I still enjoyed reading about cultural aspects. Here’s to another 10 years!
Hi Beatrix! Thank you very much! Glad to hear my recipes turned out good and you enjoy our content on the blog. Thank you for your continued support!
Dear Nami- I really enjoy your e-mails/website- thanks so much for making it so easy to read/follow! Your passion for Japanese cooking is contagious!! I hope every good thing for you and your family and team in the New Year!! Sincerely, Anne
Hi Anne! I’m so happy to hear that you enjoy my newsletter and blog! Thank you for your support and love. 🙂
Congrats, JOC!! 10 years?! Time flies. Indeed. This reminds me as well that I’m getting old… LOL. I think it was around your 5th year when I stumbled on this blog. At that time I had been assigned to a rather remote area where there were no decent options to dine let alone shop for groceries. Electricity was available, but no pantry or microwave. So I thought, I’d better spend the nights on ochazuke than on instant noodles.
I Googled for a recipe. Although it would be just for myself, I wanted it to be a real ochazuke. Then there, we met for the first time. It turned out that I didn’t have to pass every night with ochazuke. Your easy-to-follow recipes transferred my mind from thinking that ochazuke is anyway better than instant noodles into thinking of tonight’s dinner during the day at the office! Then, while savoring on that dinner, my mind was already looking forward to next day’s dinner, because I had already planned another menu, learned from JOC.
Fast back and forward. Both of my grandmothers are those who are happiest in the kitchen. I happened to be surrounded by friends who find cooking and baking joy rather than hassle. What I have learned through JOC helped me keep the conversation going with friends. I love how JOC does not only describe the steps, but also the background, the varieties of tools, ingredients, etc. I get to learn the basic-and-yet-essential steps in Japanese cooking. This is what I think makes JOC stand out from the bunch of cooking/food blogs on the internet. I hope JOC will keep this up onto the next 10, 20, 30 years to come.
Thank you so much for first being my survival kit and then for my passion kit. I am really grateful. Korekaramo yoroshikune!!
Best regards,
Shuni
P.S.
Forgot to mention. Your food photos are another inspiration for me!! Awesome!!
Hi Shuni! Thank you for your heartwarming message, and I’m so happy to hear about your cooking journey! It’s really wonderful that you get to talk to friends and family who are also good cooks and share the joy together. Your story really made me happy! I’ll work hard to continue sharing helpful tips and information about the Japanese food. Thank you for cooking with me and I look forward to sharing this cooking adventure together! 🙂
What an accomplishment, 10 years, congrats! I’m grateful for all your work, I’ve learned so much! I even recently surprised my Japanese friend with your miso cookies and impressed her! You make cooking Japanese food at home “doable” and less intimidating AND fun. I’ve shared your page with many of my friends too. I’m blessed to have a good Japanese supermarket in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, so I’ve never had problems finding ingredients you use. I’m looking forward to exploring many more of your dishes (and so is my family!).
Oh and something else I have to share….. Whenever I read your recipes and see for example “Add a spoon of miso…” I laugh out loud, because I then just imagine Miso sitting on a spoon wiggling his tail *insert crying from laughing smiley…
THANK YOU!
DLCS Dee
Hi Dee! Thank you so much! Aww I hope your Japanese friend enjoyed the miso butter cookies. Even for Japanese people, they are not the “mainstream” cookies… haha. I’m extremely happy to hear that you have a well-stocked Japanese grocery store in Amsterdam. I truly wish that one day more (big) cities at least have good access to Japanese ingredients! AHAHAHAHA! At my house, we are not careful to say “miso” in the kitchen. He always looks at us with those human-like eyes, thinking that we called him. He’s too precious. 🙂 Thank you so much for following Miso’s journey too on Instagram! xo
ThX for your reply and please keep up the good work!
ThankYou,JustOneCookbook.
Happy 10th year Anniversary.
I love your website.
Hi Samantha! Thank you so much! I’m so happy to hear you enjoy my website. 🙂
You have one of the best-managed and most informative blogs on the web. Thank you, and I’m looking forward to each upcoming recipe and article for the next 10 years, at least!
Although my main focus is the food and recipes, I really love your travel articles. When we can travel again, I hope to take my 10-year-old grandson on his first trip to Japan, and we will certainly look for ideas on your website. It’s really helpful to read what your own children enjoy in Japan.
Congratulations on 10 years well-spent!
P.S. I love your kitchen!
Hi Patricia! Thank you very much! I hope you get to bring your grandson to Japan one day. My kids love spending the summer (or sometimes winter) in Japan and they really miss being there. When you’re planning, ping us with any questions you may have! Thank you very much for your support!
Congratulations on 10 years!
Absolutely love this site. Japanese food is one of my favourites but I never really used to cook it. When I had to go gluten free several years ago I was worried that I wouldn’t be able eat it again. Then I found this site, tried a couple recipes (with a couple of basic GF subs) and they all worked perfectly. So happy!! Was especially thrilled to have a Japanese curry recipe. Now there’s usually some curry roux in my fridge and I make at least a couple of your recipes a week (today was mapo tofu). Every recipe works perfectly and is so delicious.
Thank you so, so much to everyone involved in the site and best wishes for the future!
Now to go buy the print on demand book now that I know that it exists. E-books on tablets aren’t the safest for messy cooks!
Hi Claire! Thank you so much for your kind words. I’m so glad that my recipes have been helping you with your GF dieting and I hope to share more GF-friendly recipes in the future! Thank you for your support!
Congrats and many more delicious years to come!!!
I followed you since 2016 and tried many of your recipes. They are easy to follow (not to mention the beautiful food pictures and nicely filmed and edited videos). My pinterest boards are full of your recipe cards and many of them are in my “repeat” board.
Your travel posts are very helpful (allow me to be dramatic, it’s a life-saver) when my hubby and I planned our trip to Tokyo, Kyoto and Osaka last spring. JOC is the only “Japan Travel Guide Book” you need.
I can see celebrating your 1M YT sub real soon 🙂
Hi Elsa! Thank you for pinning my recipes and trying them! Mr. JOC was SO happy to hear his travel posts were helpful to your planning! Hee hee, I hope we can celebrate 1M YouTube someday soon, but we must get back and work hard for that. 🙂 Thank you for your support, Elsa!
Nami,
Congrats on 10 years!
Thank you for sharing your recipes with us. We love your recipes!
Hi KM! Thank you SO much! I’m so glad to hear you enjoy my recipes. 🙂
Congratulations on 10 years! This was probably the best find of 2020 for me. It brings back all the wonderful memories I have from the time I spent living in Japan. I miss my Japanese kitchen and the grocery stores so much. Thank you, JOC Team, for sharing the joys of Japanese cooking for all.
Hi Cassie! Welcome to JOC! I’m so happy you found my blog. I hope you won’t miss too much of Japan, and my recipes (and travel/culture content) will bring you joy. 🙂