Koji, fermentation
and living food — in Tokyo.
&LAB TOKYO is a small kitchen in Jingumae, Tokyo, run by chef and author Chie Ando. We teach koji fermentation, raw food and raw sweets by hand — four people at a time, never more.
Two koji experiences,
and a longer path
Most guests visiting Tokyo come for a single session. If you live here, or you want a qualification you can teach with, there is a longer path too.
KIKI KOJI LAB｜利麹LAB
Two hours on koji, through your senses. Two amazake tasted side by side — same rice, same method, and they do not taste the same. From that question, the world of koji opens up. You take Japanese dried rice koji home and make it again in your own kitchen. ¥31,000 per person, 1–4 guests.
See KIKI KOJI LAB →UMAMI & KOJI LAB
Three and a half hours, on koji alone. You inoculate steamed rice with tane-koji by hand, look at koji-no-hana alive under a microscope, taste amazake, shio-koji and shoyu-koji side by side, and cook lunch with what you have made. English-speaking support staff included.
See UMAMI & KOJI LAB →Fermentation Planner Course
Four steps — know, deepen, create, pass on. From how koji works, through growing your own rice koji, to white koji, yeast and carbonated fermentation. Taught in Japanese, and can be joined in simple English. Available in Tokyo or online, wherever you live.
See the course →Chie Ando
Chie Ando is a chef and author based in Tokyo, certified by ELLE gourmet. She has written textbooks on raw food, raw sweets, raw chocolate and Japanese fermentation, and has taught the subject since 2016. She teaches every class herself.
Her work sits where two traditions meet: Japanese koji fermentation, which has been part of the household kitchen here for centuries, and living food, which keeps ingredients below 48°C. She is not interested in either as a diet. She is interested in what they taste like, and in what they let you make.
About &LAB TOKYO →Before you book
What is fermentation?
Koji, miso, shoyu, amazake — what they are, and how they are made in Japan.
Read →Contact
Dates are flexible. Tell us a few days that suit you and we will arrange the rest.
Get in touch →Jingumae, Tokyo
The studio is in Jingumae, Shibuya-ku — within walking distance of Gaienmae, Omotesando, Sendagaya and Kokuritsu-Kyogijo stations. We send the exact address once your booking is confirmed.
- There is no fixed timetable. We arrange each session around the dates you give us.
- Aprons, ingredients and tools are all provided. Come in clothes you can move in.