The staging of the 13th Annual Worlds of Flavor International Conference & Festival – JAPAN: FLAVORS OF CULTURE From Sushi and Soba to Kaiseki: A Global Celebration of Tradition, Art and Exchange took place November 4-6, 2010, at the CIA at Greystone campus with 34 chefs from Japan presenting as the Team of Japan along with 50+ other Japanese chefs and food experts presenting from the U.S and elsewhere around the world. The conference likely represented the largest and most important gathering ever of top Japanese chefs and food experts outside of Japan.

From 2011 and beyond, there were a number of Japanese companies and Japanese presenters featured in globally themed WOF conferences, most notably, for CIA’s 17th Annual Worlds of Flavor International Conference & Festival with the theme of “ASIA AND THE THEATER OF WORLD MENUS: Flavor Discovery, Culture, Innovation, and Style.” With a pan-Asia focus, Japan played a large role in this 2015 conference, with presenters and sponsors. Suntory was the Grand Presenting Sponsor and thus began a long-term relationship with CIA and Suntory. 

Suntory’s desire to partner with the CIA to offer more Japanese culinary education to CIA students resulted in the development and execution of the CIA’s elective Bachelor’s Concentration: Japanese Cuisine: A Study of Tradition, Flavor, and Culture, with Suntory Visiting Professor of Japanese Studies.

The CIA continues to work with our Japanese partners, building strong relationships, and gaining knowledge of Japanese cuisine and culture to share with our CIA students and alumni, along with the broader audience of American chefs and culinary experts with an interest in all things Japanese related to food.