VegeProject advises Ministry of Tourism’s initiative to make Ikaho area more veg-friendly | VegeProject Japan （ NPO法人ベジプロジェクト）

Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s Kanto Bureau is currently leading an initiative to make the Shibukawa Ikaho Onsen area in Gunma Prefecture a model tourist area that is able to provide for various dietary preferences. This has been undertaken as an initiative for tourists, for whom it has been shown that delicious vegetarian food made with local ingredients is a significant attraction.

VegeProject’s own representative Haruko Kawano has spent the last ten months as an expert advisor on vegetarian matters for the project.

Photo: Stairway in Ikaho

Photo: part of traditional Japanese hotel, or ryokan, Nagomigokoro No Yado Omori’s oriental vegan offerings

This initiative has been possible due to the collaboration of the local tourism association, local businesses, neighboring municipalities, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism’s Kanto Bureau, the Survey Research Center Co., Ltd., and many others.

Starting in January 2021, a seminar was conducted for hotels and restaurants in the Ikaho area, where VegeProject’s Ms. Kawano presented on the basics of vegan catering, national and worldwide trends concerning plant-based eating, as well as vegetarian ingredients that could be easily incorporated. In addition, BentoYa Cooking, who holds vegan cooking classes, also presented a lecture video on vegan cooking and providing for foreigners.

In March, a sample of vegetarian and vegan foreigners living in Japan were given a tour to conduct further research. The tour was taken counter measures against the corona virus.

We were able to enjoy a Taiwanese-style lunch at Bukkoji Temple, traditional Japanese sweets at tea time, traditional Kaiseki meals at ryokan (Japanese traditional hotel), and local Mizusawa udon, all vegan.

For more specifics, please check out our VegeTime articles (articles in Japanese):

Ikaho Onsen Test Tour that Vegetarians and Vegans can also enjoy (1)
Ikaho Onsen Test Tour that Vegetarians and Vegans can also enjoy (2)

Through the test tour, the initiative was able to provide local businesses with feedback on the menu, overall experience, and likelihood to come back, as well as information on the effectiveness regarding the advertising of vegetarian offerings.

As the business understanding of vegetarian and vegan catering deepens, we look forward to the diversification of food offerings in the area.

Photo from the last committee meeting