On Friday, September 26th, Mikuni Yanagi (Yamato Seiran High School), a second-year student in Global Food Business Program (GFBP/Faculty Faculty of Commerce, Department of Management and Distribution), who participated in the "2025 Youth Exchange Program in the Field of Food with the State of Hawaii" sponsored by Fukuoka Prefecture, gave a report on her activities.
The program aims to foster young people who will play an active role on the world stage in the future by exchanging students between Fukuoka Prefecture and Hawaii, which has a sister state relationship with the state, and to promote mutual cultural understanding and further develop exchanges between the two regions through exchanges in the field of "food." After passing the selection process from Fukuoka Prefecture, six students majoring in food, cooking, nutrition, etc., and six students from the University of Hawaii, Kapiolani Community College, participated in the exchange program.
When Yanagi visited Chiang Mai University in February as part of GFBP, he found that local students perceived Japanese dashi as "weak," and he realized that perceptions of "delicious" differ depending on the country. This prompted him to decide to participate in the program, wanting to learn about the unique flavors of Hawaii, a multi-ethnic population, and the fusion of Japanese and international flavors.
As part of the dispatch program, Yanagi and the other participating students traveled to Hawaii from June 1st (Sun) to 8th (Sun), where they visited local supermarkets, restaurants, coffee roasteries, taro fields, and the college. After attending lectures, they also participated in a cooking class to prepare traditional Hawaiian cuisine.
In addition, from August 15th (Friday) to 23rd (Saturday), students from the university visited Fukuoka as part of an acceptance program, where they participated in cooking classes, matcha grinding experiences, seaweed making experiences, and sightseeing in Dazaifu.
Participating students were divided into mixed teams of Japanese and American students, and a competition was held to create recipes using ingredients from Fukuoka and Hawaii that could be served as in-flight meals on Hawaiian Airlines (Fukuoka to Honolulu flights) under the theme of "Spreading the appeal of Fukuoka/Hawaii cuisine to the world." After cooking in both Hawaii and Fukuoka, the students gave presentations in English and received judging and feedback from professional chefs.
Yanagi's team created "Lomi Lomi Tomatoes" and "Matcha Shiraae" in Hawaii. Unfortunately, they received feedback that their creations were not suitable for in-flight meals, but they used this experience to create improved versions of "Lomi Lomi Tomatoes" and "Yuzu Gosho Namul" in Fukuoka, which came in an impressive second place. Working together, they worked hard to communicate with their colleagues in English and body language, and discovered many new cooking techniques, making it a very meaningful experience.
At the presentation, Yanagi said with a smile, "I felt I wasn't very good at English, but by actively talking to people and trying to keep a smile on my face, I was able to build deep friendships with my colleagues. This experience has made me want to work as a buyer or in marketing in the future, so that I can spread Fukuoka food outside the prefecture and overseas."
[Global Food Business Program]
