Commissioned by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF), the project aims to encourage repeat visitors to Japan, providing an environment where foreign visitors can continue to have unique Japanese food experiences even after multiple visits to Japan. Ultimately, MAFF’s goal is to increase the demand for Japanese food overseas and expand the exports of Japanese agricultural, fo
restry, and marine products. Japan held a contest to recognize the best local food experiences across Japan. Japan doesn’t solely revolve around eating. Japan winners for 2019 each showcase a different prefecture of Japan and its unique regional cuisine, along with cultural activities and insights. The panel of judges chose combination experiences where food is a window into subjects such as Japanese art, aesthetics, history, spirituality, travel, agriculture, and more. During the contest application period, from June to August 2019, there were a total of 167 entries. Of these, fourteen experiences were awarded prizes, and a ceremony was held for the winners on November 2nd, 2019. Not only were the winners awarded with increased promotion on booking platforms such as TripAdvisor and byFood, but they also received professionally produced promotional videos and mentoring from commercialization experts.
