In December, 2013, “Washoku; Traditional Dietary Cultures of the Japanese” was recognized as a UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage. Nowadays, Washoku is increasingly garnering worldwide attention, as evidenced by the increased number of Japanese restaurants overseas and foreign tourists visiting Japan to eat and experience authentic regional cuisines.
On the other hand, with the diversification of food and changes in the family environment, the preservation and succession of Washoku culture in the country has become a challenge.
Under such circumstances, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has started various activities to pass on Washoku culture, recognized as a UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Heritage, to the next generation.
As part of these activities, we started the website “Our Regional Cuisines - Beloved tastes and flavors we want to pass on to the next generation” in 2019. The aim is for communities to pass on their diverse food culture, unique to each region around the country, to the next generation, which is one of the characteristics of Washoku.
Here at “Our Regional Cuisines - Beloved tastes and flavors we want to pass on to the next generation”, we will create a database and provide information on the origin, history and recipes of regional cuisines, selected by special regional committees, as well as the background of the area where the cuisine was developed. We hope this will help cooking at home, menu development by restaurants, product development by food manufacturing companies, research on regional cuisines, and any other endeavors you may pursue.
