OCVB to host committee aimed at adding Ryukyu cuisine and awamori to UNESCO’s list of intangible heritage list

OCVB to host committee aimed at adding Ryukyu cuisine and awamori to UNESCO’s list of intangible heritage list

The “Committee to promote UNESCO intangible heritage list enrollment,” informed the prefectural office of their effort to put Ryukyu cuisine as well as Ryukyu awamori onto the UNESCO intangible heritage list on April 13.


 

April 14, 2018 Ryukyu Shimpo

 

The “Committee to promote UNESCO intangible heritage list enrollment,” led by Masaki Yasuda, visited Okinawa Prefecture’s Department of Culture, Tourism, and Sports chief Takao Kadekaru at the prefectural office to inform him of their effort to put Ryukyu cuisine as well as Ryukyu awamori made from black koji mold onto the UNESCO intangible heritage list.

Committee chair Yasuda said, “Originally, the only liquor made from black koji mold was awamori.

We would like to re-examine awamori as well as the Ryukyu cuisine that helped establish Japan as the land of longevity, secure their place on this list, and preserve it for future generations.”

 

At the conference, committee deputy chair Chokei Taira (head of the Okinawa Convention & Visitors Bureau (OCVB)) announced his intention to establish a working committee for Ryukyu cuisine and awamori within the Bureau with the goal of getting them on the UNESCO list.

 

In the report, it was stated that four symposiums had been held previously, and interest from Okinawan citizens had grown.

Furthermore, the report stressed that Ryukyuan cuisine’s dynastic aspect as well as the food’s perceived curative properties, along with the awamori made with black koji mold, a fermenter unique to Okinawa, made for a combination of food and drink that had a unique value in the cultural sphere, and that is was essential to secure a place on the intangible heritage list.

 

(English translation by T&CT and Sam Grieb)

 

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