International food symposium to dive deep into Osaka’s culinary culture in September

Japan’s culinary capital is set to welcome an international cast of movers and shakers from throughout the food world on September 22 and 23, when the Osaka Culinary Immersion symposium will be taking place in the city. Organised by Osaka Prefecture, the forum aims to celebrate and stimulate Osaka’s rich culinary scene in all its diversity.

While Osaka is widely recognised as one of the world’s great food cities, its eating scene is still often considered synonymous with street eats and budget dining. With the eyes of the world on Osaka as Expo 2025 enters its final stretch, the culinary symposium is seeking to nudge the narrative around the city’s food scene towards Osaka’s abundance of high-quality ingredients, imaginative chefs and world-class restaurants.

On September 22, the programme will commence with a two-way excursion attended by the symposium’s key participants. This experiential journey will take one group into the northern Hokusetsu area, while the other will visit southern Osaka.

In Hokusetsu, attendees will immerse themselves in local tradition and artisanship through visits to Hirano Farm in Suita, where Naniwa heirloom vegetables have been grown for more than a century; Akishika Brewery, which has been growing its own organic rice to make artisanal sake since 1886; Arata, a destination restaurant that puts the spotlight on the plentiful produce of rural Nose; and Minoh Beer, one of the Osaka region’s best-known craft breweries.

Meanwhile, the southern tour will include stops at Yamatsu Tsujita, a producer of chilli blends made with endangered domestic peppers; Sakai-based knife workshop Fujii Hamono, run by the same family for four generations; Katashimo, a century-old winery preserving the legacy of a historic grape-growing region; and Viteraska, an Italian restaurant that occupies a 150-year-old traditional Japanese house adjacent to the World Heritage-listed Shiratori no Misasagi, an ancient keyhole-shaped burial mound.

The excursion will conclude in the morning of September 23 with a visit to Konbu Doi, Osaka’s premier purveyor of kombu kelp, which is an essential ingredient in the city’s traditional cuisine. 

Later that day, the Osaka Culinary Immersion symposium will take place under the chandeliers of Waldorf Astoria Osaka, the city’s latest luxury hotel.

The line-up of panelists and moderators includes chefs Yusuke Takada, whose La Cime currently holds two Michelin stars and is the only Osaka restaurant on the World’s 50 Best and Asia’s 50 Best lists, Dylan Watson Brawn of Berlin restaurant Ernst, and André Chiang, one of Asia’s leading names in innovative gastronomy.

Joining them on stage will be Malaysian musician and actor Pete Teo, whose many talents also include running a farm-to-table restaurant; cosmopolitan culinary entrepreneur Leen Al Zaben, the Middle East Academy Chair for the World’s 50 Best Restaurants; and Japanese food journalist Kyoko Nakayama, who serves as a judge for several restaurant awards both in Japan and internationally.

By way of panels and workshops, participants will discuss topics including the distinctive aspects of Osaka’s culinary legacy and how the city’s food culture can shine on the global stage. The symposium will be livestreamed online from 5pm to 6.40pm.

*Osaka Culinary Immersion is produced by Akiko Toya, the executive vice president of Original Inc and Time Out Tokyo.