What is a Food Stylist? Nami Iijima Talks about Creating Appetizing Food for Movies
2021/09/29

On a movie set, many professionals pool their knowledge to create a production. This includes the director, actors, scriptwriter, camera crew, and designers. JFF Plus is launching a “Artisans Behind-the-Scene” series that introduces the jobs that underpin those productions. In this first article we introduce the food stylist, Nami Iijima.
Starting with her work as a food stylist in the movie, Kamome Diner (2006), Ms. Iijima has created scrumptious foods for numerous movies and dramas, including The Chef of South Polar (2009), the Midnight Diner series (2009–2016), and films by Director Hirokazu Koreeda. We talked to her about how she became involved in movies and how it feels to do work you love.
取材・文:羽佐田瑶子 編集:井戸沼紀美(CINRA, Inc.)
Visually Communicating Flavor: A key figure supporting all scenes with food
──First, can you please tell us what kind of work a food stylist does?
Iijima: The work involves all scenes in movies that include food. I make the dishes that appear in the scenes, help with scenes in which the actor is cooking, and prepare props like cooking utensils and tableware that are shown on screen. Basically, I participate on the set by myself, but I don’t know in advance how many times I’ll have to make a dish until the director is satisfied, so I prepare a lot of food every time.

──We can’t smell or taste the food through the screen, so I guess it must be difficult to give viewers the feeling that food looks appetizing through the visual sense alone. You’ve been on many sets. In your experience, what is it that you find difficult?
Iijima: Being on a movie set is a battle with time, so it’s difficult to gauge when to cook dishes. I get everything ready, estimate when shooting is likely to begin, and prepare freshly cooked dishes. Sometimes a dish looks better on screen after it’s cooled down, so depending on the scene content, I calculate the timing so that the food looks appetizing.
Of course, I also consider how to arrange food so it looks appealing. For example, if I make ginger-fried pork, ‘Shouga-yaki’, I fry around 10 slices of meat, choose the most attractive pieces that I want to showcase, and use them for the focal point of the arrangement. I find a balance that’s not too decorative, yet not too haphazard.
──If you were asked to make food that is unappetizing, what would you do?
Iijima: I’d create dishes that are the opposite of what’s imagined to be appetizing. If it were meat, nicely browned meat looks delicious, so I’d try to make a dish that looks dull and bland if I were told to make something that looks unappetizing.
Actually, once on the set of the movie The Chef of South Polar (2009) that features meals for members of an Antarctic research expedition, I was asked to make greasy deep-fried chicken, ‘Karaage’, that was supposed to have been made by a wife who wasn’t good at cooking. The actors on the film set eat the food even if it has to look unappetizing on screen. So, I got creative and first made a sauce with sesame seed oil that goes well with deep-fried chicken. I made it look limp, though it actually tasted good.
From her first foray on the set of a movie by Director Juzo Itami to becoming a food stylist
──In Japan, the job of a ‘movie food stylist’ has just recently begun to be recognized. How did you build your career?
Iijima: My mother worked as a cook at a preschool and I saw how she enjoyed it. I’ve had vague aspirations towards cooking since I was little, so I went to a nutrition college to become certified as a dietician and cook.
When I thought about what to do after graduating, I found ‘food stylist’ in the staff credits of a cooking magazine and thought I’d like to do that, but back then there were no job ads for food stylists on job search sites. So, I first applied for an editing and production job at a cooking magazine. I get bored easily, so I thought I should get a job doing what I like or I wouldn’t last.
The interviewer introduced me to an acquaintance of theirs who is a food stylist, and I was lucky to become an assistant at age 21.

Iijima: The person I worked under at that time was involved in films by Director Juzo Itami, so I also helped out on the set of the movie, The Last Dance (1993). Back then, it was unusual for a food stylist to work on a movie, so I was able to gain valuable experience.
──Speaking of Juzo Itami, he is known as a foodie and dishes that appear in his movies are very enticing. Has anything on set left an impression on you?
Iijima: That would be when the Chinese dish called ‘beggar’s chicken’ appeared in a movie. (A boiled chicken is wrapped in lotus leaves, then covered in clay and roasted in an oven. The cooking method is said to have come about by chance when a beggar who got hold of a chicken cooked it outdoors.) Another assistant and I were sent to a Chinese restaurant that Director Itami frequented and we learned how to make beggar’s chicken. I was surprised at such passion for the sake of a single scene, and at the same time learned the fun of bringing to life what the director envisioned.
After striking out on my own at age 28, I mainly worked on advertisements and commercials. In a commercial for a certain brand of bread, I worked with the actor, Satomi Kobayashi, which led to being involved in the movie, Kamome Diner (2006) by Director Naoko Ogigami. That was the first movie that I officially worked on as a food stylist.
Crafting foods that look decidedly delicious at a glance
──My impression is that many of the foods you cook are everyday Japanese dishes that are served in homes all the time. What is the appeal of Japanese home cooking for you?
Iijima: I think it’s being able to get a sense of the seasons. Seasonal foods differ in each of the four seasons. In summer, it’s somen noodles (thin noodles made from wheat flour that are often eaten cold). In winter, it’s hot pot (a pot of simmered vegetables and meat is placed on the table as is, and each person takes their portions from the pot). The change in the dishes that are typically served is enjoyable.
──Apparently, there are times when a vague direction is written in scripts, such as, “Please make tasty dishes.” In that case, what kind of menu do you plan?
Iijima: Fundamentally, I prepare foods that look decidedly delicious at a glance. I don’t really make dishes that would make viewers stop and wonder what they taste like.
Iijima: Also, I read the script and am shown the set design, so I think about the food based on the character and lifestyle of the person cooking, the site of the movie setting, and the season.
For instance, in a movie ‘nikujaga’ (home cooking that simmers meat and vegetables such as potatoes in a sweetened soy sauce-based sauce) might be made. If the character is young and lives alone, I would use only the minimum ingredients of potatoes, onion, and meat. In contrast, if a mother who likes looking after others cooks, I would add vegetables like snow peas to make it vibrant.

―Out of all the movies you’ve worked on so far, if you had to choose just one dish that made an impression on you, what would it be?
Iijima: That’s a tough one…I have memories of all the movies I’ve been in charge of cooking for, but the dishes in the first movie I worked on as a food stylist, Kamome Diner (2006) were all memorable. The movie was set in Finland and filming was also carried out with local staff.
The story involves a diner where the signature dish is ‘onigiri’ (white rice that is molded into shapes and has a variety of ingredients inside). The Finnish staff were unfamiliar with Japanese food, and I was worried about them being able to film dishes they’d never eaten in an appetizing way.
So, before filming I served onigiri to the entire staff. At first some were hesitant about eating it, but they seemed to cultivate a taste for the delicious onigiri as filming proceeded. They’d jostle to get them when I’d bring some to the set. I was very happy the staff came to like the Japanese home cooking that I introduced on the overseas set.
Valuing the story over my own style
──What kind of communication do you have with the director so that your cooking and the perspective of the movie match up?
Iijima: Basically, I don’t want my own style to show in the movie. I want to value the story of the movie above all else, so I’d like the food to meld with the scene so that you’d never think a food stylist was involved. That’s why I think it’s important to carefully read the script and decide on the food while consulting with the director.
──What advice do you have about pursuing a career as a food stylist in movies?
Iijima: I think if you want to become a food stylist in Japan, then you should study Japanese home cooking.
In addition, if there’s a food stylist you like, I think a good strategy is to use social media and other means to make direct contact. Be proactive about giving things a try.
I’ve always liked cooking and have yet to tire of it even now when I’ve made it my job. In fact, my passion for food grows with each day. I’m always on the lookout for ingredients, tools, and flavors I like.

──Thank you. Finally, would you please share your favorite food from a movie?
Iijima: I like the scene in Tanpopo (1985) by Director Juzo Itami where shortly before her death the mother makes fried rice that fills the wok. She passes away right after she’s cooked, but the family eats the fried rice “while it’s hot” as they cry. That’s quite memorable.
Nami Iijima
Ms. Iijima is a food stylist who was born in Tokyo. Her participation in the 2005 movie, Kamome Diner (Naoko Ogigami) led to her working as a food stylist in movies and TV dramas. She has worked on talked-about productions including the films The Chef of South Polar (Shuichi Okita), Our Little Sister (Hirokazu Koreeda), and Under the Open Sky (Miwa Nishikawa), as well as the drama series and movie, Midnight Diner and TV drama My Dear Exes. She has also published several books such as “LIFE” (co-author), “Shinya Shokudo no Ryoricho” (Midnight Diner Cookbook; co-author), “Sanji no Manpuku Gohan” (One Piece Pirate Recipes) , and “Cinema Syokudo” (Blockbuster Dishes from the Silver Screeen).