"Hence, we organized this event to promote two things. One is to promote Japanese food," Ambassador Kiya Masahiko stated during the "Experience Japanese Food Culture" event at the ASEAN Secretariat, Jakarta, Thursday.
During this promotion, the Japanese Mission for ASEAN held a cooking demonstration of teuchi soba, Japanese noodles made from buckwheat flour, and processed manually by soba master.
Soba noodles are one of the popular foods in Japan that can be found in Japanese restaurants and are often enjoyed in the last few months at the end of the year.
In addition to soba noodles, the Japan Mission to ASEAN is also promoting yuzu juice drinks made from lemon as well as Kombu seaweed tea, all three of which are said to originate from the Miyagi Prefecture in northern Japan and Kochi Prefecture in southern Japan.
"So those are to demonstrate the diversity of food in the countryside of Japan," Kiya stated.
Kiya considers food as an important part of Japanese tourism promotion. Hence, on that occasion, he also invited people from ASEAN member countries to travel to Japan after the COVID-19 pandemic was declared over.
In the meantime, he said another aspect that is equally important is Japan-ASEAN relations.
Next year, Japan will celebrate the 50th anniversary of ASEAN-Japan Friendship and Cooperation. Hence, the culinary promotion was held as part of a series of celebratory events.
Earlier, during the presentation of his credential as Japanese Ambassador to ASEAN at the ASEAN Secretariat on December 1, 2022, Ambassador Kiya expressed hope that he would be able to strengthen closer relations with the ASEAN in various fields, ranging from issues of security, economy, culture, and youth exchanges to global issues.
Speaking in connection with global issues, he said Japan is keen to enhance closer cooperation with ASEAN on issues of global health, climate change, and decarbonization as well as in disaster management.
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Reporter: Katriana
Editor: Azis Kurmala
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