I Tried Working in a Japanese Hotel. (It didn’t go well).

Start your day with the boss, Minami-san, at Miuchi Gorge for a spiritual awakening. It's a 2 km journey up the gorge, taking about an hour, but it's worth it for the calm waters and scenic backdrop. Local legend says Princess Unohana jumped from the cliff here, and her spirit protects the villagers. It's a pretty cool, epic quest to start your day, even before 7:30 AM.

Join the kitchen team to measure portions of miso. It's not as easy as it looks, as every measurement has to be precise to the exact gram. I couldn't get it perfect, but the staff are incredibly skilled. It's a humbling experience that shows the dedication to precision in Japanese cuisine.

Prepare vegetables by hand-tearing each stem of locally sourced akaara (mustard greens) from the leaves. This is a task I was finally good at, a simple but satisfying part of kitchen prep.

Attempt to cut and measure Yamagata's famed La France pears. This task requires top-notch motor skills and sharp Japanese knives, and I found it quite challenging, slicing the pear to pieces and wasting a perfectly good one. It highlights the skill required in a Michelin-star kitchen.

Assist the Yori staff in maintaining the meticulous conditions of the private hot spring baths. This involves scrubbing the tubs, ensuring the right temperature (42°C), pH levels, and preservation of natural minerals. It can take up to 30 minutes for a single bath, even a smaller stone one, but it's crucial for perfection. It's hard but satisfying work, especially brushing a stone bath made from a single block of stone.

Learn the art of making beds in a traditional Japanese inn. My Senpai, Yakis-san, says it should take 5 minutes, but it's definitely a technique. I felt like I was in a TikTok video, and my beds ended up looking like a 'mountain range' compared to the perfectly made ones. It's a busy morning task that requires precision.

As a new staff member, I was requested to taste-test the new season menu by Michelin-star chef Harida-san. We started with pumpkin ravioli with consommé soup – a small but incredibly flavorful dish where the cheese, pumpkin, and consommé came together perfectly. Next was Koi carp, a staple of landlocked Yamagata, served with a sticky sweet red wine sauce and local vegetable powder. The crunchiness of the batter and the buttery fish were incredible. We finished with Yonezawa wagyu beef with matatake mushrooms. It was all up to Michelin-star standards.

Work with Shimanuki-san, a charismatic and long-serving kitchen team member, to hand-dry champagne flutes and wine glasses. Some glasses require the precision of a particle accelerator to get them clean, especially an 8,000 Yen glass that was the most difficult to clean in the world. It's a meticulous and time-consuming job, but Shimanuki-san makes it fun.