A strategy and creative practice in Japan.
We explore what people expect from food, help organisations find common ground, and turn complex questions into shared agendas for research, policy and industry.
Explore our workPublished in Cuisine Kingdom
14 instalments · June 2024–August 2026
Written by Genki Kimura
What should the future of food ask of us?
The Japan Gastronomy Manifesto sets out ten principles for thinking about food in Japan: its relationship with place and season, the responsibilities of those who make and eat it, and the possibilities of innovation.
Developed and published through a two-year series in Cuisine Kingdom (料理王国), a Japanese culinary industry magazine, the manifesto is an existing body of work and a draft open to further debate.
Read the author’s published series (Japanese)The published draft is the starting point for planned public editorial meetings. The next phase includes planned dialogue with Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, opening the text to discussion and further development.
Selected work led by our founder.
Food, learning and dialogue
Programme direction · 2023
As programme director of Liberal Eats Academy, Genki Kimura brought a liberal-arts approach to questions about food. The programme was established by Liberal Eats LLC with NewsPicks Social Design and the Japan Gastronomy Institute.
The work connects people’s professional knowledge with their own questions about food—an approach that continues to inform our practice.
Read the programme announcement (Japanese)City branding and implementation
Founder’s prior work · 2021–2023
Kimura served as a City Branding Advisor to the City of Kyoto. His work on the Kyo-working programme connected the city’s cultural resources with the needs of businesses considering a presence there.
This experience informs how we move between public priorities, organisational decisions and implementation.
Read the City of Kyoto’s event report (Japanese)Cellular agriculture · Programme in development
We are developing a programme to bring public expectations and concerns into Japan’s discussion of cellular agriculture.
Structured listening and dialogue will inform shared questions for research and policy. The aim is for participating organisations to identify what they can act on, take responsibility for next steps, and track responses from relevant institutions.
This is a specific programme in development, drawing on an established body of writing and convening experience. The published Japan Gastronomy Manifesto provides part of its intellectual foundation.
Kimura’s practice spans creative direction, food culture and city branding. He works through research, writing and dialogue to frame questions that different organisations can address together, and to connect those questions with implementation.
He is the author of the Japan Gastronomy Manifesto and programme director of Liberal Eats Academy. His experience brings cultural understanding and practical programme design to the work of Gastronomical.