“Japan-Bhutan Food Culture Exchange Symposium in Thimphu” held by Embassy of Japan in New Delhi
On October 27, the Embassy of Japan in New Delhi held the “Japan-Bhutan Food Culture Exchange Symposium in Thimphu”.
Ms. Kyoko HOKUGO, Economic Minister of the Embassy of Japan in New Delhi, and the Bhutanese government officials and people from the food, beverage, and hotel service industries in Thimphu participated in the symposium.
<Background of the Symposium>
In Bhutan, Buddhism and the culture of putting great importance on seasonal festivals and customs are deeply rooted. For example, when holding official government events and ceremonies, the Bhutanese government chooses auspicious dates through prayer, and the day when the first snowfall of the season in winter is observed as a national holiday. Alcoholic beverage is an indispensable part of these festivities.
In addition to the rice production, Bhutan also has a culture of producing "chang or chhaang", a brewed rice liquor (like Japanese “Doburoku or unrefined sake”) for private consumption in some areas, which has a strong affinity with the Japanese culture, where sake is enjoyed throughout each of the four seasons while sake and rituals are closely related.
These backgrounds brought us to hold the symposium including a sake tasting session with the keywords of "Seasonal Festivals and sake," which are common cultural elements in both Japan and Bhutan.
The symposium was organized with the participation of Ms. Mika Eoka, who founded "Sake Club India" to promote sake in India, and Mr. Genki Hoshino, “TOJI”, a chief sake maker, from Tsuchida Sake Brewery in Gunma Prefecture. Both of them were invited to Bhutan as brewing experts and talked about the appeal of sake and sake brewing techniques.
The Bhutanese who attended the symposium listened to the lecturers’ explanations with deep interest on their faces, and were impressed by the various ways to enjoy sake as they tasted sake at different temperatures (room temperature, chilled, and warmed sake) served at the tasting session.
