《TAIPEI TIMES》Event to highlight Japanese food

By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter

Food produced in Japanese prefectures that was restricted after the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant disaster in 2011 is to be showcased at the Taiwan Culinary Exhibition, the Taiwan Visitors Association said yesterday.

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Taiwan in February ended an 11-year ban on food products from Japan’s Fukushima, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Gunma and Chiba prefectures, as long as importers and manufacturers provide a certificate of origin and a radiation inspection certificate for their products.

The disaster occurred when the plant was hit by a tsunami after the March 11, 2011, Tohoku earthquake.

During the four-day culinary exhibition, which opens on Friday at the Taipei World Trade Center’s Hall 1, people can sample cantaloupes, sweet potatoes, yams, natto crackers, buckwheat noodles and other products of Ibaraki Prefecture, the association said.

Food from Hiroshima, Fukushima, Nara, Saga, Ehime, Kagawa and Okinawa prefectures would also be on display or available for purchase, it said.

Organizers said that the event would showcase Taiwanese food, which benefits from “diverse food cultures.”

Association chairwoman Yeh Chu-lan （葉菊蘭） told a news conference that the exhibition is to be held for the first time this year since it was suspended for two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The theme of the Taiwan Culinary Exhibition this year refers to delicious food served at festivals, and it was chosen as we are seeking to revitalize the tourism industry in the post-pandemic era,” Yeh said. “Through the culinary exhibition, we hope that [people]... can appreciate Taiwan as a country that serves delicious food and is capable of producing quality food that is highly rated by the Michelin Guide.”

“The most important goal of the exhibition is to show people what Taiwanese cuisine is — a melting pot of diverse food cultures,” she said.

Nigeria and Indonesia are the only first-time participants at the event, she said.

People can attend food-related seminars at the exhibition and watch live cooking shows, the association said.

Photographers would be on site to demonstrate food picture-taking tips, it said.

The exhibition would have a pavilion featuring food for Muslims made by halal-certified restaurants in Taiwan, Tourism Bureau Director-General Chang Shi-chung （張錫聰） said.

“There are 1.6 billion Muslims around the world, a large percentage of whom live in Asia,” Chang said. “Even with the Central Epidemic Command Center yet to lift the quarantine requirement to enter Taiwan, the pavilion will show Taiwanese travel agencies how they can make dietary arrangements when they can once again host tourists from Muslim-majority nations.”

Another pavilion would highlight food for elderly people, as Taiwan is to become an “ultra-aging” society by 2025, he said.

新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES