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Japanese Embassy hosts home-cooked tasting to celebrate 60 years of Korea-Japan diplomacy

Published: 15 Dec. 2025, 16:11 Updated: 15 Dec. 2025, 19:25

SEO JI-EUN
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Hisaki Matsumoto, the resident chef at the Embassy of Japan in Korea, right, slices tofu for miso soup during a home-style cooking session at the Nakamura Academy in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Dec. 15. [SEO JI-EUN]

Korean and Japanese home-style dishes centered on fermented soybean pastes were prepared at a tasting event at the Nakamura Academy in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Monday to mark the 60th anniversary of the normalization of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Hisaki Matsumoto, the resident chef at the Embassy of Japan in Korea, right, and Kim Ji-young, the owner and chef of the Korean dining restaurant Gyuban, pose with the dishes they made during a home-style cooking session at the Nakamura Academy in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Dec. 15. [SEO JI-EUN]

The tasting session showcased Japanese dishes — including tofu and seaweed miso soup, salt-fermented radish and grilled pork with miso — alongside Korean ones, such as soybean paste-marinated grilled pork, radish salad seasoned with soybean paste and hanwoo (Korean beef) and napa cabbage soybean paste soup.

Japanese Ambassador to Korea Koichi Mizushima, fourth from right, listens to a cooking demonstration during a Korea-Japan home-style culinary event at the Nakamura Academy in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Dec. 15. [SEO JI-EUN]

Hisaki Matsumoto, the resident chef at the Embassy of Japan in Korea, and Kim Ji-young, the owner and chef of the Korean dining restaurant Gyuban, led the demonstrations side by side. The two chefs also allowed participants to compare ingredients and cooking techniques, from the Japanese practice of adding miso toward the end of the cooking process to preserve aroma and umami to the way in which Korean soybean paste dishes often have longer cooking or marination times.

Participants sample dishes prepared during a Korea-Japan home-style cooking demonstration at the Nakamura Academy in Gangnam District, southern Seoul, on Dec. 15. [SEO JI-EUN]

“We chose simple meals that can be made at home rather than high-end cuisine,” Japanese Ambassador to Korea Koichi Mizushima said in his welcoming remarks delivered in Korean. “Taste the everyday cooking that represents flavors from both countries, and recognize shared cultural elements beyond formal diplomacy.”

BY SEO JI-EUN [[email protected]]