What's New!
・Event Information for Promoting Gastronomy(8/6/2021)
・Students Learning Gastronomy of USUKI (8/3/2021)
・We took an interview with the information magazine "Discover Japan" (7/27/2021)

We, Usuki city, aim to join the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as a city of Gastronomy in order to work to revitalize the city by refining our rich gastronomy which we have protected and created and exchanging with various creative cities of gastronomy all over the world.

Greetings from the Mayor of Usuki City

 Usuki city is abound with not only the geology and topography but also mild and clean water.  After people started making miso with the abundant water in 1600, diverse gastronomy has developed such as fermentation and brewery industries and traditional local dishes.
 In recent years, we have also promoted organic agriculture for local production and local consumption in addition to the gastronomy built up over many years by its citizen. For example, we have been increasing the farmers' and consumers' understandings for the importance of food by our manufacturing mature compost fermented plants mainly, which enables soil to improve its environment. 
 We believe these our activities enhancing diversity and sustainability of food contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and lead to make the city sustainable.
 In addition, we expect becoming a member of UNESCO Creative City Network increase the value of elements of our gastronomy such as fermentation and brewery industries, an environment-maintaining type agriculture, fishery industries, and frugal culture, as well as help us further improve our measures so far, moreover, especially in those fields, we are sure that we can contribute to development of gastronomy from both aspects of international cooperation and conomic growth.
 Therefore, we, Usuki city, decided to aim to be UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy.

Usuki Creative City of Gastronomy Promotion Council

 The Usuki Creative City of Gastronomy Promotion Council was established in February 2021 for the purpose of preserving the rich culinary traditions of the area and creating a new gastronomic culture, for developing creative industrial pursuits in partnership with other cities both in Japan and abroad, and for fostering and developing the local economy, academic studies, and cultural pursuits.

OFFICIAL WEBSITE (click here!)

Usuki's Gastronomic Elements

  Usuki's Gastronomy[PDF：3.12MB]

Project of Creative City of Gastronomy USUKI

 We implement various projects for the revitalization of our gastronomy so as to our citizen can feel familiar with and further develop the gastronomy.

(1) The Archive of Usuki's Gastronomy Project

Organize the gastronomy of Usuki and promote it via a book, website, and display.

(2) Promotion of Utilization of Honmamon Agricultural Products and Usuki's Local Fish Project

 Design a system to strengthen relationship between agricultural/forestry/fishery workers and restaurants in Usuki city in order to increase the use of agricultural, forest and fishery products made in Usuki at the restaurants.

(3) Experience Program of Usuki's Gastronomy Project

 Develop and implement tourism programs, which offer experience with Usuki's unique gastronomy including an aspect of Sustainable Development Goals by cooperating among travel agents, food processing industry, restaurants, agricultural/forestry/fishery workers.

(4) Usuki Gastronomy Film Festival Project

 Implement a screening of films related to food such as "A Dialogue: Living Harmony" which shed light on the Usuki city's effort for promotion of organic agriculture.

(5) Promotion of Utilization of Usuki's Local Tableware Project

 Make a leaflet summarizing the information of ceramics, and promote the use of them at restaurants in Usuki.

(6) School Lunch Organic Project

 Promote the use of organic agricultural products especially local ones for school lunch.

(7) Mariage between Local Food and Sake Project

 Create combinations of seasonal cuisines or ingredients and local sake with cooperating with local restaurants and the sake brewing industry.

(8) The Story of Usuki's Gastronomy Project

Create programs for developing human resources who can convey the appeal of Usuki's gastronomy toward its citizen and tourists.

Promotion video of Creative City of Gastronomy USUKI Project "The way of Gourmet Cooking in Usuki-Way"

 Usuki city is abundant with gastronomy.  In this video, we introduce eight features of its gastronomy as "Eight Ways of Gourmet Cooking", which have to be passed down the generation.
 Local dishes created during the Edo period in response to the tight budget of the Usuki domain, Buddhist vegetarian cuisine cooked by a priest who had Zen ascetic training, thick slices of raw blowfish that is too fresh to be sliced thinly, soy sauce and miso paste produced with a fermentation technique that originated more than 400 years ago, locally brewed sake that best matches specialty seafood in the region, vegetables with authentic flavors, cultivated by preparing ideal soil, and time-honored honzen cuisine to be enjoyed with the traditional table manners inherited from the Inaba family, the feudal lord of the Usuki domain.
 These cultures continue to prosper from the past to the present, and far into the future.

Introduction Video of Usuki City