CASE STUDY

  • Highly Unique Regional Food Cultures Born from the Blessings of the Kuroshio Current

    Chugoku

    23 Highly Unique Regional Food Cultures Born from the Blessings of the Kuroshio Current

    • #Japanese Food Culture
    • #Fisheries
    • #Japan of the Sea

    Kuroshio Town, located in the southwest of Kochi Prefecture, is home to an expansive coastline featuring stunning sandy and rocky beaches, as well as luscious green mountains. As its name suggests, it is flourished as a port town that was built on the blessings of the Kuroshio Current, which flows from the south coast of Japan up to the North Pacific Ocean. Since long ago, people in the town have lived alongside the rich fishing grounds provided by the Kuroshio Current. Although a wide variety of seafood is caught throughout the year in Kuroshio Town, the katsuo, or bonito, that arrive on the Kuroshio Current have played a particularly key role in the town’s food culture. The katsuo are caught using a more than 400-year-old technique called Tosa ipponzuri, which sees fishermen use a single rod and lure to lift fish from the sea. Kuroshio Town is still home to an abundance of traditions developed by the Kuroshio Current, and today it is working to incorporate new elements into these traditions to create new value.

    • #Japanese Food Culture
    • #Fisheries
    • #Japan of the Sea
    Read more
  • Transforming Conventional Notions Surrounding Scallops A Global Brand Strategy from Iwate Prefecture in Sanriku

    Tohoku

    22 Transforming Conventional Notions Surrounding Scallops A Global Brand Strategy from Iwate Prefecture in Sanriku

    • #Producers
    • #Japanese Nature
    • #Japanese Food Culture
    • #Fisheries
    • #Local production for local consumption

    Located in the center of the Sanriku coastline in the southeastern part of Iwate Prefecture, Kamaishi City is blessed with an abundance of delicious seafood. The city is also known as the birthplace of the modern iron industry. Kamaishi is also famous across Japan for being a rugby city, with the local Nippon Steel Kamaishi rugby club winning the All-Japan Rugby Football Championship for seven consecutive years between 1979 and 1985. Located in this city of diverse charms is Yamakiichi Shoten, a shop established in 1989 that today produces the so-called Swimming Scallops, which are said to be the most valuable scallops on the market. Inheriting the ideas of Yamakiichi Shoten’s founder, current Managing Director Takeichi Kimigahora is aiming to grow these Swimming Scallops into a new Sanriku brand and “communicate the value of scallops from Sanriku worldwide.”

    • #Producers
    • #Japanese Nature
    • #Japanese Food Culture
    • #Fisheries
    • #Local production for local consumption
    Read more
  • Finding Value in What Is Available The Fascinating Nature, People, History, and Food Culture of the Oki Islands

    Chugoku

    19 Finding Value in What Is Available The Fascinating Nature, People, History, and Food Culture of the Oki Islands

    • #Ryotei & Restaurants
    • #Lodging/Hotels
    • #Producers
    • #Gastronomy and Culinary
    • #Japanese Nature
    • #Japanese history and traditional culture
    • #Agriculture
    • #Fisheries
    • #Local production for local consumption
    • #Foreigner Activation
    • #Public-private partnerships and collaborations
    • #Community Revitalization
    • #Japan of the Sea

    The Oki Islands are located 40–80 km north of the Shimane Peninsula. The Oki Islands consists of 180 islands of various sizes, four of which are inhabited, and blessed with abundant nature. These nature-rich remote islands have long been a place for interaction between people and culture. Historically, there were well-known as the place where Retired Emperor Go-Toba and Emperor Go-Daigo were banished, while the islands also flourished as a stopover for ships sailing the Sea of Japan during the Edo period. The rich and diverse cultures that have developed throughout this long history has been carried on to the present day. Fascinated by the charming way of life, many people have also moved to the Oki Islands. Records of the Oki Islands appear as far back as in the Kojiki, or Chronicles of Japan. Looking back on this history, today these migrants are working to create a new future for the islands. As remote islands, there are some things that are “missing” from the islands. However, people here have realized what “exists” only on these remote islands.

    • #Ryotei & Restaurants
    • #Lodging/Hotels
    • #Producers
    • #Gastronomy and Culinary
    • #Japanese Nature
    • #Japanese history and traditional culture
    • #Agriculture
    • #Fisheries
    • #Local production for local consumption
    • #Foreigner Activation
    • #Public-private partnerships and collaborations
    • #Community Revitalization
    • #Japan of the Sea
    Read more
  • SUSHI×TECHNOLOGY Pioneering the Future of Food Culture from Kanazawa.

    Hokuriku

    16 SUSHI×TECHNOLOGY Pioneering the Future of Food Culture from Kanazawa.

    • #Ryotei & Restaurants
    • #Producers
    • #Technology
    • #Japanese history and traditional culture
    • #Japanese Food Culture
    • #Fisheries
    • #Local production for local consumption
    • #Overseas Expansion
    • #Community Revitalization
    • #Japan of the Sea

    Kanazawa City in Ishikawa Prefecture in Japan’s Hokuriku area is known for Kenroku-en Garden, Kanazawa Castle, and the Nagamachi Samurai District, all of which are steeped in the history and culture of the expansive former Kaga domain; as well as magnificent food culture that incorporates the delights of the Sea of Japan. Kanazawa Maimon Sushi was first launched in Kanazawa City in 2000. Extremely popular as a high-quality, gourmet kaitenzushi (conveyor-belt sushi) restaurant, Kanazawa Maimon Sushi has attracted a lot of media attention. M&K Corporation is the restaurant’s managing company, and using Kanazawa as its platform, it is currently working to expand the potential of sushi worldwide as a central element of Japan’s food culture. Kanazawa Maimon Sushi has in place a unique strategy for the future of sushi—this has the potential to impact significantly on food not only in Japan, but around the world.

    • #Ryotei & Restaurants
    • #Producers
    • #Technology
    • #Japanese history and traditional culture
    • #Japanese Food Culture
    • #Fisheries
    • #Local production for local consumption
    • #Overseas Expansion
    • #Community Revitalization
    • #Japan of the Sea
    Read more
  • A Respect for Nature and Life Alongside the Sea – Kesennuma Pride

    Tohoku

    15 A Respect for Nature and Life Alongside the Sea – Kesennuma Pride

    • #Producers
    • #City Planning
    • #Gastronomy and Culinary
    • #Japanese Nature
    • #Japanese Food Culture
    • #Fisheries
    • #SDGs
    • #Local production for local consumption
    • #Foreigner Activation
    • #Experience
    • #Public-private partnerships and collaborations
    • #Sake
    • #Community Revitalization
    • #Japan of the Sea

    Kesennuma City in Miyagi Prefecture is surrounded by sea and mountain, and its port has landed the largest volume of katsuo, or bonito, in Japan for 25 consecutive years. During the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, however, the area in and around the city suffered huge damage. Now, Kesennuma is transforming into an attractive city with new ambition. With the worldwide support,the development is thanks to locals who rediscovered their city’s attractions and developed a strong desire to the reconstruction, and new individuals from outside who sympathized with the city’s passions. Today, both born and bred locals and supporters from outside the city are working together to create an integrated regional model. Welcoming outsiders with open arms and respecting diversity—speaking to those engaged in the creation of a new Kesennuma has helped to shine a light on the strategies and ideas involved.

    • #Producers
    • #City Planning
    • #Gastronomy and Culinary
    • #Japanese Nature
    • #Japanese Food Culture
    • #Fisheries
    • #SDGs
    • #Local production for local consumption
    • #Foreigner Activation
    • #Experience
    • #Public-private partnerships and collaborations
    • #Sake
    • #Community Revitalization
    • #Japan of the Sea
    Read more
  • Lifestyles in Close Proximity to the Sea.An Area that Brings Together Sustainable Development and Unique Attractions—Ine Town

    Kinki

    14 Lifestyles in Close Proximity to the Sea.An Area that Brings Together Sustainable Development and Unique Attractions—Ine Town

    • #Ryotei & Restaurants
    • #Lodging/Hotels
    • #Producers
    • #City Planning
    • #Japanese Nature
    • #Japanese history and traditional culture
    • #Japanese Food Culture
    • #Fisheries
    • #Local production for local consumption
    • #Experience
    • #Public-private partnerships and collaborations
    • #Community Revitalization
    • #Japan of the Sea

    Ine Town, located in the northern part of Kyoto Prefecture, is known for its funaya, or wooden boathouses. One of the most scenic spots in Japan, the town is frequently used as a filming location for movies and TV dramas. Visitors to Ine Town can experience what it is like to live closer to the sea than anywhere else in Japan. The sea and the fish within it could not be any closer. What is the best way to communicate the unique charms of Ine Town to the wider world? Today, the ideas of Ine locals are gradually taking shape. Be it initiatives to promote the area’s unique seasonal delights, including early summer oysters, autumn squid, and winter yellowtail; accommodation limited to one group per day where guests can fully enjoy being right next to the sea; or new tourism projects to further vitalize the town. Locals are steadily making progress toward the future while balancing the history and nature of Ine Town with entirely new elements.

    • #Ryotei & Restaurants
    • #Lodging/Hotels
    • #Producers
    • #City Planning
    • #Japanese Nature
    • #Japanese history and traditional culture
    • #Japanese Food Culture
    • #Fisheries
    • #Local production for local consumption
    • #Experience
    • #Public-private partnerships and collaborations
    • #Community Revitalization
    • #Japan of the Sea
    Read more

1~6 / 6