*Senpai is a senior in age, experience or standing. In Japanese culture, one’s senpai is looked up to with both admiration and affection.**Kikurage means wood ear mushrooms Masaaki-sama’s Sacred Word “Kori-kori,” the feel of a firm, springy chew, and add to that vegan Chinese food. This kori-kori, in the world of kori-kori cuisine, tops it all! Kori-kori, koooori! ♩ Kori-ko—okay, I’ll stop. I think I’m going to be called out on my predictability. First, with the combination of wood ear mushrooms that is often used in Chinese cuisine and then ginger and sesame seed, it has the feeling of Chinese cuisine. And most of all, that “kori-kori,” the crisp, springy, almost crunchy texture. The impact from chewing this crisp, crunchy texture of wood ear mushroom with the firm satisfying chew of wakame, seems to reverberate from my jaw, all the way to my brain. Do you recall that classic starter in Chinese cuisine, the one with the firm, springy texture of jellyfish? This time’s recipe reminds of this dish, only it’s the vegan version. It might be a little difficult to imagine, but the combination of the slightly softer kori-kori of the wood ear mushroom and the firm kori-kori texture of the wakame is just perfect. Then add to that the richness of the sesame oil and the sweetness that comes from the generous topping of ground sesame seeds (generous, is key). The ginger brings all of that together perfectly, and well, the chopsticks keep moving. Wood ear mushrooms. Along the course of evolution, fungi, including this wood ear mushroom, have existed before animals and plants branched off (about one billion years ago), and for us earthlings, it makes them a super senpai (way more so than the dinosaurs!). And that’s why wood-ear-mushroom-senpai has, would you believe it, both animal and plant characteristics. The animal characteristic: when fungi are exposed to sunlight, they form vitamin D from the component in them that can be likened to cholesterol in humans—it is amazing. It is an impossible feat for all other vegetables. What a fearsome fungus! Even in the fungal world, wood ear mushroom is the champ. Put it out to dry under the sun for two days, and its vitamin D levels will explode.Vitamin D supports the digestive tract absorb calcium—an uncommon existence indeed. I say it repeatedly, but if you are vegan, you definitely want to eat sun-dried wood ear mushrooms. Of course, please be sure to sun-dry yourselves daily too. “Self sun-drying” (aka sunbathing). What is more, in this dish, since you also take in sesame seeds and wakame that are rich in calcium, this simple-looking recipe is overflowing with nutrients that make the bones strong—you win, recipe. When you eat this, first, turn your attention to wood-ear-mushroom-senpai and say, “Thank you for this food, senpai.” Toss it into your mouth, do the kori-kori crunchy thing, close your eyes, and while giving deep thanks to the fungi that that God created one billion years ago, even before the dinosaurs appeared, fully savor this new classic Chinese dish (?) together with rice and miso soup, then prick up your ears to listen to the silent sound of your bones actively forming as you eat, and while you absorb, with all your body, the blessings of the earth, the sun, the sea and this eternal moment, sing in a loud voice, “Kori-kori, koori! ♩ Kori-kori, ko—” . . . just kidding.――――――― While Mami-okusama’s video singing “Nira Nira Niiira ♪” is still getting a bit of buzz, the opening of Masaaki-sama’s Sacred Word—“Kori-kori, koori♪”—had this reporter hoping for the next video. Mami-okusama is well known as a vegan beauty, but if we may say so, that video was unfairly cute 😍 How wonderful is the power of the wood ear mushroom, which Masaaki-sama has explained in such detail, as an essential ingredient for vegans! Just as Masaaki-sama said, we simply cannot help but say, “Thank you for this food, senpai,” to this miraculous mushroom that builds our bones. How grateful we are to World Church of Messiah for teaching us about ingredients like this and their benefits that vegans should be consuming! If you’re not yet familiar with World Church of Messiah, by all means, feel free to check out Masaaki-sama’s Sacred Word in full! ♪ Mami-okusama, who shared this recipe with us, explained that the key point when preparing it is to generously coat everything in sesame seeds.The method is wonderfully simple, yet the flavor is irresistible—with the fragrance of ginger, the rice just keeps disappearing 🍚🥢 So with Mami-okusama’s song on repeat in our heads, let’s go ahead and make this new Chinese-cuisine classic—one that lets us savor the ultimate kori-kori texture and feel the earth’s history! An explosion of kori-kori texture!Likes, saves and shares are most welcome ✨ Mami-okusama's Original Recipe 👇Ingredients• Wakame (rehydrated) … 50g• Ginger … 10g (finely minced)• Sun-dried wood ear mushrooms (dried) … 10g• Soy sauce … 1 tablespoon• Mirin … 1 teaspoon• Sesame oil … 1 teaspoon• Raw sesame seeds … 2 tablespoons• Salt … as needed Instructions① Prep• Rehydrate the wakame according to its type (fresh, salted, or dried), drain well, and cut into 2–3 cm widths.• Finely mince the ginger.• Rehydrate the wood ear mushrooms in water, drain thoroughly, and slice into thin strips about 5mm wide. ※ The soaking liquid from the mushrooms is packed with nutrients, so please make use of it—for example, use as part of the water when cooking rice, or in miso soup.• Toast the raw sesame seeds, then grind them into ground sesame. ② Cook• Heat a clay pot and add the sesame oil.• Add the ginger and a pinch of salt, and sauté over low heat until fragrant.• Add the wood ear mushrooms and sauté for about 1 minute.• Add the mirin and let the alcohol cook off.• Add the wakame and mix quickly. ※ Be careful not to overcook.• Add the soy sauce, toss to coat everything, and remove from heat right away.• Mix in a generous amount of ground sesame, and it’s done! ***About Mami-okusama (Mami Okada)Mami-okusama was born in Aichi Prefecture and was raised in a farming household. Also known as Japan’s Vegan Beauty, she is the wife of and Aide to Masaaki-sama (Masaaki Okada), World Church of Messiah’s Representative of Kyoshu. She is a vegan recipe developer focusing on the Japanese vegan diet. She is the first to establish the “vegan deco ben” (vegan decorative bento) and “vegan kyara ben” (vegan character bento) genres. Not only are they beautiful to the eye, these bento are created entirely from plant-based ingredients, in line with what Masaaki-sama teaches on the truth of food, that seasonal and local eating rooted in the climate and terrain of Japan is the most beneficial for health and well-being, that is, to eat what grows in one’s local region. Through these and also through the creation of her many original recipes, she seeks to spread the Christian vegan diet—the true healthy diet. She graduated from University of Tsukuba. During her studies there, she became actively involved in volunteer activities such as refugee support. She was also repeatedly asked to participate in the Miss Tsukuba Contest and was approached by many modeling agencies, but she declined all of these offers as she wanted to focus on refugee support activities. In recognition of her efforts in refugee support, she received the University of Tsukuba President’s Award in 2012. She holds a license to teach English to intermediate and high school students. After graduating from university, she began working for World Church of Messiah in 2013. In 2014, she married Masaaki-sama, the great-grandson of the founder of World Church of Messiah, Meishu-sama (Mokichi Okada 1882–1955), and the representative and successor of Kyoshu-sama. On May 24, 2026, on the day of Pentecost, she assumed the position of Aide to the Representative of Kyoshu. Currently, while raising three children, she is working tirelessly unlike anyone else in the practice and spread of the Christian vegan diet as taught in Masaaki-sama’s revolutionary message: “Christ Jesus was the last and ultimate sacrifice—so it is no longer necessary to eat a diet that comes with the suffering of animals.”