Promoting local gastronomy
Creative ways to promote Tsuruoka's unique gastronomy to local and foreign travellers.
TSURUOKA FŪDO GUIDE
Born out of a desire to spread the charm of Tsuruoka’s food culture to as many people as possible, the Tsuruoka Creative City of Gastronomy Promotion Council launched the FŪDO (Food x Culture) Guide programme in 2014. The programme’s name, a pun on the Japanese word for one’s natural environment (fūdo 風土) and the word “food,” reflects its aim of showing the world how one’s food is intimately intertwined with the environment it comes from.
This initiative trains people who are passionate about our local foodscape, giving them the skills to showcase what Tsuruoka has to offer to tourists. These FŪDO guides take charge of their tours from start to finish, making sure to share their love and appreciation for Tsuruoka’s gastronomy through interactive pictures and personal anecdotes.
These tours have helped create jobs in local F&B and agricultural sectors. The FŪDO Guide programme is also proud to be a partner of Humming Tour, a Niigata-based travel agency that brings domestic and international travellers alike across Japan to Tsuruoka.
TSURUOKA GASTRONOMY REPORTERS
The Tsuruoka Gastronomy Reporters programme, established in 2011, shares the charm of Tsuruoka’s gastronomy through the use of social media and local mass media. Rather than simply introducing local ingredients and dishes, reporters interview farmers, fishermen, and chefs to gain more insight into these local gems. Their stories build compelling pictures of how gastronomy in Tsuruoka has grown and evolved from the past to the present, and how it will develop as we move into the future. As of 2015, this programme has turned its focus towards sharing uniquely culinary knowledge passed down by our ancestors.
