Restaurant list spotlighting regions marks fifth year

The Destination Restaurants 2025 award ceremony, hosted by The Japan Times, was held on May 28 at Hills House Sky Room Cafe & Bar in Tokyo’s Azabudai Hills. The criteria for selection are that the restaurants must lie outside major cities and be catalysts for local revitalization. Another 10 restaurants were selected this year, the fifth year of Destination Restaurants, with each chef attending the ceremony. This year’s Destination Restaurant of the Year was the Italian restaurant Himawari Shokudo 2 in Toyama Prefecture, where a fine-dining scene born of cooperation among chefs is drawing attention.

The ceremony began with an opening speech by Minako Suematsu, chairperson and president of The Japan Times. The next speaker was guest Futoshi Nasuno, secretary-general of the Cabinet Office’s Secretariat of Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters, which oversees the government’s Cool Japan Strategy. He said the biggest factor currently motivating people overseas to travel to Japan is a desire for a variety of culinary experiences, including visits to sake breweries. He also commented that the Destination Restaurants initiative connects with the Cool Japan Strategy, which contributes to regional revitalization. Tsutomu Wakamatsu, director of the Japan National Tourist Organization, remarked that encounters with culture, including cuisine, play an important part in increased consumption by overseas travelers.

Next came the awards ceremony and remarks from the 10 award-winning chefs. They each conveyed gratitude to their region and producers, as well as their thoughts on contributing to society through cuisine. Among them, Koji Takahira of Kurumasushi in Ehime Prefecture, who worries about the decreasing quantity of fish being caught in Japan, said, “With a feeling of gratitude to the fish in Ehime Prefecture, I’ll go forward while thinking about the situation 100 years from now.” Hozumi Tanaka of Himawari Shokudo 2 said with emotion that, even for chefs in easily overlooked regional cities, “with Destination Restaurants there is a hope of being recognized if you do your best.”

Following a toast by Patricia Barbosa Lima Cortes, deputy chief of mission and minister-counselor of the Embassy of Brazil in Japan, a six-course meal made up of dishes by six of the award-winning chefs was served. Attendees savored each dish with delight.

ジャパンタイムズが主催する「Destination Restau rants 2025」の授賞式が5月28日、東京で行われた。選出基準は、東京23区と政令指定都市を除く場所にあり、食を通じて地域活性化の起爆剤となる店であること。5回目を迎える今年も新たに10店が選ばれ、各店のシェフが授賞式に参加した。その年を代表する1店「The Destination Restaurant of the year 2025」として、昨今、県内のシェフたちの連携によるガストロノミー・シーンが注目される富山県のイタリアン・レストラン『ひまわり食堂2』が選ばれた。

式典はジャパンタイムズ代表取締役会長兼社長・末松弥奈子の挨拶で開会。来賓からはこのレストラン・リストの取り組みが地方創生に資することなど、同賞の意義などが語られた。その後、表彰式が行われ、10人の受賞シェフがコメントを披露。地域や生産者への感謝と食を通じた社会貢献への思いを述べた。

また、今回の受賞者のうち6人のシェフによるコース料理も振る舞われ、参加者たちは舌鼓を打った。

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