Roundtable with State Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan

Past sunday we had the honor of joining a private roundtable with Mr. Hirofumi Takinami, State Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan, together with his distinguished delegation — Mr. Hiroki Taniguchi, Secretary to the State Minister, Ms. Kumiko Inaba, Export and International Affairs Bureau, and Mr. Daiki Yamada, Export and International Affairs Bureau. We are sincerely grateful for their valuable time and attention, and for the Ministry’s commitment to directly engaging, listening, and planning how to further strengthen cooperation between Japan and Turkey.

The meeting was kindly arranged by Machida-san of MOFA, and hosted at Itsumi. Our gratitude also goes to Horikoshi Shunichi, Owner of Itsumi and Goodwill Ambassador of Japanese Cuisine, and our dear friends; Sinan Damgacıoğlu, Goodwill Ambassador of Japanese Cuisine, Silver Chef, and Didem Yalçınkaya, Silver Chef.

Discussions focused on the positioning of Japanese cuisine in Turkey, the opportunities and challenges for bringing Japanese produce to the Turkish market— and in trade, particularly the role of Japanese sake in Turkey’s dining sector. It is encouraging to see such dedication from the Ministry toward building stronger culinary and cultural bridges between our two countries.