Nahomi Azuma was born in Yokohama, Japan in 1955.[1][2][3]
After graduating from Meiji University, she aspired to be an actress and was involved in the Tenkei Gekijo theater troupe in Tokyo.[4][5][6] Because she had learned some cooking skills while working part-time in a restaurant to support her acting career, she became responsible for feeding the theater troupe, which started her on her culinary journey.[1][4][6]
When the troupe disbanded, around 1990, she began writing articles on cooking for a magazine.[4][6] She would go on to write for various publications including the Mainichi Shinbun, becoming known by the pen name Nahomi Edamoto.[1]
Edamoto became a well-known cooking expert in Japan.[2] She wrote many books, including "Nahomi Edamoto's Real Breakfast," "Advice for Cooking and Life," and (in collaboration with Hiromi Itō) "What Did You Eat?"[2][7] She also frequently appeared on cooking shows on NHK, CBS, and TBS.[5][8][9]
In 2006, she was featured in a video game for the Nintendo DS, "Nahomi Edamoto's Happy Kitchen," which was released in English translation as "Happy Cooking."[10]
Edamoto was also known for her anti-poverty activism and disaster relief efforts around food.[5] To this end, she was involved with the Big Issue Japan Foundation, writing for the organization's street publication that is sold by homeless people to earn money.[5][6][11] She spearheaded the "Night Bakery" initiative, which purchased discounted bread that bakeries would otherwise throw away, then gave jobs selling it to unemployed people in need.[12][13] She also founded the agricultural advocacy organization Team Mukago.[1][9]
Nahomi Edamoto died in Tokyo in 2025 at age 69.[1][5][8]
