Alongside Kairaku-en in Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture, and Koraku-en in Okayama City, Okayama Prefecture, Kenroku-en in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, is one of the Three Great Gardens of Japan. The picturesque views of the garden in each of the four seasons have continued to capture the hearts of visitors across generations. On November 22 (Wed), 2023, CJPF Live was hosted in the Gyokusen-an Rest House, which offers stunning views of the Kenroku-en Garden. While bringing together samurai and court cultures and flourishing as the home of many of Japan’s leading traditional crafts and cultural elements, Ishikawa Prefecture today is seeing an influx of personnel with new and interesting perspectives. It has a new culture that perhaps can be called “neo-traditional.” Traditions that change shape over time and that are carried into the present day while continuously evolving and transforming. Innovations that are conceptualized and created by new settlers with new perspectives. In this article we bring to you discussions and observations on neo-traditional from diverse, multi-faceted perspectives on everything from the tea ceremony, art, food, and sake, to technology, regional revitalization, and overseas perspectives.

The BCWP was established in 2016 by the Basque government in Spain and the Basque Culinary Center (BCC), and is known as the Nobel prize of the gastronomy world. The prize is awarded to individuals whose work in gastronomy has been proven to benefit society. The award is open to chefs across the world whose work has had a positive impact on a wide range of fields, be it education, health, research, sustainability, social entrepreneurship, philanthropy, or the protection of regional cultures, for example. In FY2023, the 13th BCWP and International Council of the Basque Culinary Center was held in Japan. In this session we examine the worldviews and objectives of chefs active across the world, their expectations for Japan’s traditions, expertise, and culinary vision, and the course of action for global co-creation through food cultures.

The CJPF Awards 2023 were set up to award Cool Japan initiatives that highlight the attractionss of Japan. The winning initiatives were selected from among 289 entries in the Movie Category and 124 entries in the Project Category. The 4th CJPF Live session was held on March 9, 2023, with judges from both categories coming together to discuss from what viewpoints they judged and assessed the entries, as well their expectations for future CJPF Awards and any areas to improve on. In addition to a strong realization of how Japanese features are accepted and recognized around the world in diverse fields, we also gained a clear picture on the future expectations and hopes for Cool Japan.

The third CJPF Live was held on December 10, 2022, in Tochigi. Tochigi Prefecture has a rich history that has been passed down for over 1,200 years, represented by the world heritage shrines and temples of Nikko, and a rich natural environment, represented by the the Ramsar-registered wetlands Oku-Nikko-shitsugen and Kegon Falls, which is one of the three great waterfalls of Japan. For these reasons, Tochigi has welcomed many tourists as an international tourist destination since the Meiji era.. Tochigi is also rich in water sources, such as the Shojinzawa Spring Water in Shioya, which also makes it a flourishing sake brewing. Tochigi supplies the high-quality vegetables grown in a rich natural environment, as well as the strawberries and other agricultural products that can be enjoyed all year-round, to the Tokyo metropolitan area and nationwide. Tochigi is easily accessible from Tokyo metropolitan area in about two hours by Tobu Railway,JR,etc..and expectations for short-distance luxury gastro-tourism through Japanese railways are increasing, Here we discussed with people who are working to create local attractions and experts on Japan and overseas about what local luxury tourism should be.

The second CJPF Live was held on November 10, 2022, in Hiroshima. Hiroshima is currently garnering worldwide attention as the host prefecture for the G7 Summit in 2023. The prefecture itself has a stair-step terrain, from the Chugoku Mountains in the north to the Seto Inland Sea in the south. Overall, Hiroshima has a warm climate, but there are areas of some heavy snowfall in the north. In this sense, it could be called a microcosm of Japan. While perhaps the most well-known food in Hiroshima is the soul food such as okonomiyaki, oysters, and momiji manju, the prefecture’s rich natural surroundings have given rise to a diverse range of ingredients and food culture. In this CJPF Live session, we discussed the charms and future of Hiroshima’s food with the “next-generation of regional leaders” and experts with an overseas perspective.

Japan’s diverse food and food culture has great potential as a key resource for Cool Japan. CJPF Live is one of the initiatives that explores the potential of Japanese food and food culture from diverse perspectives to realize branding for people around the world and to communicate the charms of Japan to people with various interests and preferences. On the first CJPF Live held on September 1, 2022, we welcomed guests from diverse sectors such as chefs, travel planners, regional development specialists, who work closely with Japanese food and food culture while sharing their activities and messages with the world. Below is a summary of the discussion about the charms and potential of Japanese food and food culture told by their own perspectives.