Case Study
Discover
Capturing craft across languages
When three Japanese ramen chefs were invited to Kamen Kitchen in Charleroi to teach and demonstrate their craft, the restaurant and its agency wanted more than how-to footage - they wanted to surface the philosophy behind each bowl. We stepped in as cultural and linguistic bridge: facilitating the conversations, translating on set, and shaping the raw material into an accessible asset for both French and Japanese audiences.
Client
Kamen Kitchen (project commissioned via Belgian marketing agency)
Industry
F&B - Specialty Japanese Cuisine
Year
2024
Services
On-set translation & facilitation, interview direction, subtitling
About the project
Context - teaching, technique, testimony
Last September, while still a film student and working part-time in the hospitality world, Aio joined a shoot at Kāmen Kitchen in Charleroi. Three internationally trained Japanese ramen chefs were flown in to share their techniques; after the classes, they sat down for interviews to talk about the craft, the discipline, and why they commit their lives to ramen.
A local marketing agency produced the shoot; a representative from the agency supervised, and a friend of the agency filmed and later edited the footage.
Our role - more than a translator
We did more than translate words. Off camera we asked questions that animated the chefs and pulled out the stories behind their techniques - the small rituals, the failed experiments, the quiet commitments that don’t show on a menu.
Aio translated in real time during the conversations and later supplied French subtitle files to the editor who cut the final videos. Though we didn’t perform the edit, our on-set direction and subtitling support were decisive in shaping the final narrative.
In Concluding
Production approach - minimal footprint, maximum authenticity
Working in a busy restaurant environment demanded sensitivity and speed. We kept interventions light: unobtrusive questions, natural pacing, and a production mindset that honoured craft over spectacle. This approach let the chefs speak freely; their passion and authority became the principal visual and narrative engine.
Outcome & impact - respect, reach, and lessons learned
The edited interviews (the main chef’s segments were the ones published) reached roughly 2,500 views each, demonstrating genuine niche engagement for artisanal food content.
The material functioned both as a promotional tool for Kamen Kitchen and as documentary testimony of a living craft practice.
Learnings: language and cultural fluency unlock nuance - the same answer, when properly translated and framed, gains emotional and commercial resonance across markets.