Initiatives activating gastronomy tourism in Japan

Destination Restaurants is a list of outstanding regional restaurants in Japan published by The Japan Times, with 10 establishments newly selected each year. In this sixth year of the program, the Destination Restaurants 2026 award ceremony was held on May 26 at Hills House Sky Room Cafe & Bar in Azabudai Hills, Tokyo. In addition to this year’s award-winning chefs, past honorees as well as the judges attended the event, where the strong wish to showcase emerging culinary culture from Japan’s regions was much talked about.

Guest Yasuta Hayashi, the director for arts and culture at the Agency for Cultural Affairs, said, “Chefs who are continually exploring while using local products to the fullest are truly the embodiment of Japanese culture” and spoke about the importance of Destination Restaurants as an initiative listing these chefs.

Tsutomu Wakamatsu, director of the Japan National Tourism Association, pointed out the inclusion of gastronomy tourism as one pillar of the new marketing strategy “Japan. Unforgettable” running through 2030. Touching on the resonance between Japan’s tourism strategy and the Destination Restaurants philosophy, he said, “Every area of Japan has appealing ingredients, tableware and restaurants, and each region has its own culture and history as well. By combining these aspects in our promotional initiatives, we hope to attract visitors to regional areas and contribute to regional revitalization.”

The aims of Destination Restaurants are also supported by Suntory, whose distinctively Japanese whisky Hibiki has become a Destination Restaurants sponsor. Congratulating the award-winning chefs, a Suntory representative touched on the vision of the Hibiki blend, in which the various whiskies that go into its creation achieve a single harmony while respecting one another’s individual characters. He also noted that the values cherished by Hibiki, which are born of time and Japan’s nature and craftsmanship, coincide closely with the aim of building connections to the future for the creativity of award-winning chefs who continually pursue new challenges throughout Japan, as well as for regional cultures. At the same time, he expressed the wish to spread the word inside and outside Japan about the appeal of regional areas, the future of cuisine and the characteristically Japanese sense of beauty, together with leading chefs in Japan’s internationally renowned culinary world.

Through Destination Restaurants, The Japan Times will continue cheering on restaurants and producers in Japan’s regions in order to support area revitalization through cuisine.

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