TOKYO-- March 03, 2022 -- The Washoku World Challenge is a Japanese cooking contest for non-Japanese chefs, organized by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. This installment marks the ninth time this competition has been held.

The theme of this year's Washoku World Challenge was “Goho - Five Methods”, which are Nama (cutting), Niru (simmering), Yaku (grilling), Musu (steaming) and Ageru (deep-frying). The theme was selected with the hope that the competition would give contestants the opportunity to reexamine and study the basics of Japanese cooking, further honing their skills for use in the future.

Contestants were recruited from among foreign nationals who are either professional chefs specializing in Japanese cuisine, professional chefs who have a strong interest in Japanese food culture, students who are studying at Japanese culinary schools, or students who are undergoing culinary training programs in Japan. 150 people from 39 countries and regions around the world participated.

In previous years, qualifying competitions were held abroad, and the final tournament was held in Tokyo. However, the format of this year’s competition underwent significant changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Six finalists were selected following rounds of documentary and video screening, and as a special benefit, the finalists received online lessons in Japanese cooking from three top chefs.

During the online lessons, finalists received advice on the dishes that they had submitted for the video screening, as well as a cooking demonstration in accordance with the finalists’ requests. The online lessons were livestreamed so that average viewers could watch them, and they are still available to be viewed online.