Washoku is a central concept in Japanese culinary culture and finds its basis in a rich food tradition that goes back several centuries. Washoku has been recognized in 2013 by UNESCO as Intangible Cultural Heritage.

“Ichi Ju-Sansai” means one soup and three dishes. This simple expression incorporates the basics of Washoku. The principle of eating a soup and three dishes is perceived to provide a balanced meal when accompanied with cooked rice and pickled vegetables. Eating rice with every meal is one of the primary differentiating features of Washoku cuisine.

The invitation to variety is also found in two popular expressions “umi no sachi” (bounty of the sea) and “yama no sachi” (bounty of the land) that encourage combining land as well as sea sourced food when composing a menu. At the same time it celebrates the food diversity of the Japanese archipelago.

Seasonality or “shun” is another core element of Japanese traditional cuisine which recommends to select and cook ingredients when they are at the peak of their season. Balance in colour and tastes are also key in Japanese gastronomy. In past times, Japanese chefs have progressively determined a typology of colours to be harmoniously arranged when cooking (red, green, white, yellow and black-purple).