From October 15th to 28th, the Isetan Shinjuku Main Building will be hosting the "Iwate Gochisousama Tour," showcasing Iwate Prefecture's diverse food culture and traditional crafts.

To explore the food and crafts of Iwate Prefecture with Isetan staff, was Toru Okuda, owner of the three-star Michelin restaurant "Ginza Koju." With a restaurant in Paris, France, Okuda continues to promote the wonders of "authentic Japanese cuisine" to the world.

The reason he accompanied the tour of Iwate Prefecture was to devise ways to present the ingredients and cooking methods he encountered locally on traditional Iwate tableware and maximize their respective qualities. During a conversation with a Joboji lacquerware craftsman, Okuda commented, "Japanese people have little interest or pride in traditional Japanese products. I want people to pay more attention to the intricacy and performance of traditional crafts, as well as the advanced techniques required to create them." After his visit, he created a menu based on the ingredients and tableware he encountered on-site, which can be enjoyed on the kitchen stage on the basement floor. The menu is titled "Taste All of Iwate Course" (¥3,000 per person). It features a variety of dishes, including Masaki wild wakame seaweed and flounder marinated in kelp, Tachibana shiitake mushrooms and thin fried tofu with horenso (horenso grass), and miso-grilled white gold pork and mushrooms, all served on tableware made with Nanbu ironware and Joboji lacquer. The menu will be available from October 8th to 21st. Starting the following day, on the 22nd, visitors can enjoy French cuisine featuring Iwate ingredients by Chef Ito Katsuyasu of Iwate's French restaurant "L'Aureole." In addition, a variety of Iwate's signature ingredients will be on display during the event. The "Oshu Roman" apple, a hybrid of Shinano Gold and Tsugaru apples, is not yet available on the market and will be making its debut at Isetan Mitsukoshi.

Baeren Brewery, which produces classic beers using brewing equipment imported from Germany that is over 100 years old, will be introducing its smooth and flavorful "Festbier" (389 yen).

In addition, as an Isetan buyer says, "Iwate is a treasure trove of ingredients. A land where you can get an abundance of high-quality produce from the fields, mountains, and seas," a wide variety of ingredients will be on display, including "Ripe Mountain Grape Juice" (1,800 yen), "Iwate Yamagata Village Tankaku Beef Loin" (1,700 yen per 100g), and "Ego Mustard" (600 yen), a combination of Iwate Prefecture-grown perilla grown without pesticides or chemical fertilizers and yellow mustard.

The same event will also be held at the Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Main Store and the Ginza Mitsukoshi Store, and on the 26th there will be a talk show (participation fee 1,000 yen per person) at both the Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Main Store and the Ginza Mitsukoshi Store, featuring Iwate and food journalist Izumi Shibata. The two, who visited the production areas prior to the event, will not only talk about the appeal of Iwate that they discovered in the ingredients and local cuisine they encountered there, but there will also be souvenirs of Iwate Prefecture's private brand, "Pecco," on hand, which is a nice touch. The event will be held from 5:00 pm to 5:45 pm at the Nihonbashi Mitsukoshi Main Store and from 1:00 pm to 1:45 pm at the Ginza Mitsukoshi Store. Each event will have a capacity of 16 people.