THE Embassy of Japan in Malaysia and Japan’s Iwate prefecture jointly organised the “Discover the Golden Land: Iwate” reception yesterday.
The reception, held at the residence of the ambassador of Japan to Malaysia Katsuhiko Takahashi, featured cuisine and beverages made from Iwate’s specialties as well as introductions to tourism spots and an exhibition of traditional crafts.
Takahashi delightfully announced that Iwate is his hometown, welcoming his “long-time friend” Iwate prefecture Governor Takuya Tasso to the event and “to promote the charms of Iwate prefecture”.
“The popularity of Japanese cuisine has surged globally. In the context of Malaysia, exports of Japanese food products to Malaysia have tripled over the past five years and exports of sake from Japan increased 5.4 times over the past decade. In addition, the number of Japanese restaurants in Malaysia has shown a significant increase, with approximately 1,900 establishments in the country,” said Takahashi.
“Under this trend of increasing popularity of Japanese cuisine and sake, we have a good reason to expect Iwate’s presence to increase in Malaysia in this field.”
Takahashi pointed out that Morioka city, the capital of Iwate, was selected by the New York Times this year as the second top city to visit out of 52 cities worldwide, after London. “Many of you may be wondering why, but if so, Iwate should be next on your travel list. It is already crowded with foreign visitors, but it is not too late.”
Besides Morioka city, Iwate has many other attractions – in addition to its beautiful nature, said Takahashi, Iwate has three Unesco World Heritage Sites such as the temples and historical monuments in Hiraizumi.
“I hope that all of you will be fascinated by the charms of Iwate and will be excited if you start to pay extra attention to Iwate's products and to think about visiting Iwate.”
