【 Afro-Japanese Blues. 〜The world tour of a genius designer] Extra Edition: Unknown local foods in Africa and colorful soccer uniforms.

Fascinated by black culture and passion forLamrofand an African jewelry label calledAFLOGICAL JEWELRYSDaisuke Sakamoto, aka Shirley, is a fashion designer who pours generously into the "Shirley" brand.

In addition, in recent years, the company has been developing a new label, "Miscellaneous Goods," which focuses on items from the American mid-century period, which it had been operating for some time.Aflogical AntiquesHe has also changed the direction of his business to mainly African goods, expressing the black culture he loves from various angles.

The term "Afro-zero" means "of African origin. In this sense, Sakamoto is an "Afro-Japanese" with roots in Africa, even though he is Japanese.

In this series, we introduce the people, things, and things that Mr. Sakamoto has seen while wandering around the world, especially in Africa, through his own filter. We present the realities of black culture as he sees it, how he incorporates it into his products, and the realities of the black culture that has fascinated him, through actual photos and Sakamoto's own voice.

Photo_Sha-Le (Daisuke Sakamoto)
Edit_Naoya Tsuneshige

Dinner with local people.

Throughout the year, we have been presenting "Afro-Japanese Blues. This month, as an extra feature, Sakamoto introduces his own diet in Africa, which he is often asked about by people around him, and the uniforms of the national football teams that he never misses to buy in the countries he visits.

When you think of African food, what do you imagine? Beans, corn and other grains? Taro and cassava? Or frogs and lizards...?

Although it varies depending on the religion and culture of the country, the basic balance is the same as in Japan, with meat or fish as the main dish, followed by vegetables, he says. Sakamoto says that he has eaten a wide variety of food, and that "good food tastes good, bad food tastes bad, and basically it is spicy. Incidentally, the local religious rule is to eat with bare hands (right hand).

However, it is hard to imagine....

Here are some photos of the food he actually ate, including his own impressions.

Senegal / Chebgen
★★★★☆
A traditional Senegalese dish. It is a fried rice-like dish made with vegetables and fish (or meat) cooked for a long time and rice cooked in a kettle. It is eaten with a mixture of spices. Because it is simmered for a long time, all the ingredients are well seasoned, and although the dish is rich, it is easy to eat and tasty. It is a taste that sticks with the Japanese. Incidentally, this is Sakamoto's No. 1 local African food.

Senegal / Bredou
★★★☆☆☆
This is what is called stew in Japan. It is made with lamb, potatoes, and a large amount of spices. It is eaten with French bread (one of the staple foods in Africa), and is said to be very spicy. Live pepper plants" grown locally are used in abundance, and the spiciness is enough to make even those who like spicy food faint in agony.

Cote d'Ivoire / Pork Gritty
★★★★★
Street food. Spicy seasoned pork grilled over charcoal, cut from the bone on the spot and sold by hand. It is served with tomatoes and onions soaked in oil, and the spices are given on a separate plate. The usual way to eat it is with achaque (the national dish of Côte d'Ivoire, made of ground cassava, fermented and granulated). It looks taco-like, but he says it is similar to eating white rice and pork. One of Sakamoto's favorite dishes.

Cote d'Ivoire / Pre-Blazy
★★★☆☆☆
A whole chicken is grilled over charcoal for about an hour. The chicken is then seasoned with curry powder and other spices and served with street rice. It is also served with oiled onions, tomatoes, and cucumbers. The dish is said to be similar to Jamaican jerk chicken, and is appetizing without any strange habits.

Guinea / Rigla
★★★★☆
Root vegetables are simmered with chicken (or fish) for a long time, and the mild taste of fried rice is less spicy than Senegal's chebjen. Sakamoto says it is no exaggeration to say that all Japanese like this dish. It is delicious anyway, and he recommends changing the flavor with lime.

Guinea / Patatarif
★★★☆☆☆
A Guinean home-style dish. Mysterious vegetable paste is placed on top of rice. It is not spicy, but has a strong salty taste that makes the rice go further. The taste of this dish is hard to imagine from its appearance, and even after eating it, the chef could not tell what it was. But it is delicious.

Benin / Dogi
★☆☆☆☆
This soup is made by simmering various organs of sheep in a sour broth. It is eaten with fufu, a traditional West African staple food with a texture similar to rice cakes, which is made by mashing and kneading potatoes and grains such as cassava, yams, and corn. This was not very tasty anyway. Both the soup and the fufu had an unpleasant sour taste that was not at all palatable. The organs are also roughly cut, which may be visually repulsive to many people.

Togo / Adimedisi & Akome
★★★★☆
A traditional Togo dish. It is a curry-like dish consisting of okra and white fish meat stewed with spices and lamb in a sour broth and served with rice (or fufu). It is moderately salty, not too spicy, rich and easy to eat.

The basic style of eating in Africa is to eat on a platter and around the entire family. The hired security guards and housekeepers are always present here, and the local rule is not to start eating until everyone is present.

When he ate alone at a restaurant, people would look at him and say, "Why is he alone? This is how deeply rooted it is in the culture that it is natural for people to sit around the dining table with others.

In addition, they were impressed by the long time spent making all the dishes, both staple and side dishes. In both home cooking and restaurant cooking, almost all 100% are women. No one questioned that, and she felt a strong sense of discomfort about it.

Sakamoto said that this was because Africa is still a male-dominated society, and African gender issues were strongly evident.

Although we have only introduced African local food here, there are also Chinese restaurants and fast food restaurants in many countries, so even if you do not like the food introduced above, please feel free to visit Africa.

However, according to Mr. Sakamoto, "In the end, Japanese food is the best food in the world! (laugh).

African uniforms are especially colorful.

Sakamoto first became interested in black culture at the 2002 Japan-Korea World Cup, where he was fascinated by the brightly colored uniforms, unique hairstyles, and physical abilities of the African national teams he saw when he was 10 years old. This is what led him to his current activities.

He still watches the Premier League every weekend without fail and regularly participates in futsal tournaments with his friends in the fashion industry.

It may be said that it was inevitable that he would collect uniforms from various African countries during this trip to Africa. We asked him to introduce some of his collection, which is not available in Japan and can only be purchased locally.

Ghana
3rd uniform

Ghana
Warm-up uniforms

Egypt
1st uniform

Togo Representative
1st uniform

Senegal
1st uniform

Senegal
3rd uniform

Gambia
1st uniform

Cameroon Representative
2nd uniform

Guinea
1st uniform

Gabonese delegation
2nd uniform

Ivory Coast
1st uniform

Ivory Coast
3rd uniform

Tunisia
2nd uniform

Benin Representative
1st uniform

As you can see, the national uniforms of African countries are colorful and unique. The local soccer fever is also very high, and there is a lot of inspiration to be gained from it.

The source of his activities as a designer at Ramloff and a buyer at AFLOGICAL JEWELRYS / ANTIQUES is black culture and the world of football, which fascinated him as a child.

This is also evident in this unusually niche collection of uniforms.

Sakamoto actually watched the international match between Senegal and Mauritania on site.

The next edition of "Afro-Japanese Blues" will be Morocco, which will host the North and Central American World Cup in 2026. It would be interesting to see the success of African teams in the World Cup, not to mention Japan.