For fans of Japanese food and cultural activities, the annual Japan Discovery fair will return to Bangkok starting today.
Organised by The Mall Group, the event's theme is "Authentic Tohoku", promoting products from Japan's northeastern region Tohoku, which consists of the six prefectures Aomori, Akita, Iwate, Yamagata, Miyagi and Fukushima.
There will be 50 booths offering products from the Tohoku region and other parts of Japan as well as tour packages.
The food highlights from Tohoku include sushi and fresh seafood. There will also be oysters from the Sanriku Bay of Miyagi Prefecture, famous for its premium oyster farms.
Also on offer will be charcoal-grilled beef tongue, or gyutan, from Sendai, the capital city of Miyagi. The wavy and chewy ramen will be served in miso soup and topped with chashu barbecued pork from Kitakata town in Fukushima. Kitakata ramen is among the most esteemed ramen in Japan next to Sapporo and Hakata ramen.
With regards to fruit, crunchy and sweet apples from Aomori Prefecture get top billing, serving also as the basis for apple cheesecake, apple sticks, and fresh apple juice. The province produces more than 50% of the entire Japanese apple supply. There will also be light pink peaches from Fukushima, the second largest supplier of Japanese peaches.
The fair will also host the "Nebuta Festival", a 800-year-old giant lantern festival from Aomori. Japanese people believe that the lantern parade brightens their lives and wards off evil spirits. Replicas of traditional Japanese houses of Ginzan Onsen will be built to represent the popular hot spring town of Yamagata, which was also the shooting location for popular 1980s TV drama series Oshin.
The opening ceremony will be held on Aug 24 at 4pm at Mall Bangkapi. A group of women from Aizu, the samurai town in Fukushima, will deliver a samurai performance. Thai celebrity Jirayu "James" Tangsrisuk will also join the event.
The 10-day fair will also have workshops like painting Akabeko, a red cow toy from Fukushima, and mini concerts from the Sweat 16 girl group, Napat Injaiuea and MADPOP from Japan.
"The Mall Japan Discover 2018: Authentic Tohoku" fair will be organised from Aug 24 to Sept 2 at the Grand Hall, G Floor, of The Mall Bangkapi in Bangkok. The fair will also be hosted during Sept 14-23 at the Grand Hall, G Floor, of The Mall Korat in the city of Nakhon Ratchasima.
For more information, visit themall.co.th/th/home and facebook.com/themallshoppingcenter.
