Washoku Conclave : Explore our Table for Sustainability

The year 2023 marks the 10th Anniversary of the registration of “Washoku”, one of the traditional Japanese cuisines, as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage. And new initiative is underway to register “Traditional Sake Brewing” as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage”.

In addition, the year 2023 has been designated as the “Japan-India Tourism Exchange Year” by the Japanese and Indian governments. Taking this opportunity, the Embassy of Japan in India has planned to organize a series of events that will allow the people of India to cultivate knowledge and enjoy Washoku, including Japanese Sake.

To kick start the activities Japanese Embassy announced “Washoku Conclave: Explore our Table for Sustainability” on 18th June 2023 at Hotel Taj Mahal New Delhi.

Program of Washoku Conclave outlined by the Japanese Embassy in New Delhi indicates,  post the inaugural session the executive chefs Hitoshi Sugiura from Japan and Gunjan Goela from India will talk about “Sustainability” in Culinary Culture of India and Japan. And interestingly invitees will experience Sushi, Japanese curries etc. Japanese companies will exhibit fabulous Japanese foods during the conclave.

In addition to the aim of building a network between the agricultural and food industry stakeholders in India and Japan, Washoku Conclave will provide an opportunity to strengthen ties between the two countries under the presidency of G7 (Japan) and G20 (India) respectively. Also, this conclave will promote people-to-people exchange in the agricultural and food industry sectors through the Technical Intern Training Program (TITP) and the Specified Skills Worker Program (SSW).

During the Japan-India Summit Meeting at New Delhi in March 2023. PM KISHIDA concurred with PM Modi to consider increasing the number of Indian students studying in Japan, and to promote tourism exchanges by designating the year 2023 as the “Japan-India tourism exchange year”.