Japanese Culture in New York - Chopsticks NY

A Taste of College – Delicacies Produced by Students

Herb tea from Ocanomizu University featuring organic green tea blended with lemongrass and ginger has a refreshing, mild note.  It is healing especially for the tired mind and body.  The flavor was created with the support of a tea producer in Kagoshima prefecture, Shimodozono Corporation.

It is not an exaggeration to say that continually searching for good food is one of the national pastimes of Japan. Even though they cannot travel throughout the country to try local delicacies every day, Japanese people are passionate about getting products via the Internet or finding what they like at food fairs organized by department stores or supermarkets. Recently, a new opportunity for such serious food lovers has emerged. This is the Campus Food Fair, where people can taste and buy foods produced by college students.

The Campus Food Fair held this past June in Tokyo featured 28 colleges, each offering their own products, many of which were created as part of college research projects. For example, Yamanashi University students made wine using marine kobo yeast and a fermentation technique that was first developed in the university’s Wine Science Research Center. The Agricultural Department of Utsunomiya University presented fresh cheese made from the milk of cows raised by students. A group of students from the Food and Nutrition Studies Department of Ochanomizu University exhibited an original tea blend that they developed in collaboration with a tea producer, Shimodozono Corporation. Items such as these made in limited quantities and with great care never fail to appeal to enthusiastic fans of fine food. These artisanal products were not widely known until three years ago, when a business magazine highlighted them in a series of articles entitled “College is Tasty.”  The series was intended to explore and publicize interesting college projects that were not well known. It not only appealed to readers, but it also prompted the readers to seek the products featured in the series. This led to the development of the Campus Food Fair.

College food projects are becoming increasingly popular these days, but college-produced food is not a new concept. Widely available Kindai (Kinki University) Maguro is tuna fish cultured by the university’s Marine Research Center, which was established in 1948. Kindai Maguro features the first sustainably raised blue fin tuna in the world.  Now the center has incorporated and provides its quality cultured seafood commercially through A-marine Kindai, Co., Ltd. Even New Yorkers can taste Kindai Maguro at some restaurants.

Some of the items exhibited in the Campus Food Fair were developed by college students only, but others are the result of industry-university cooperation. Joint projects between industry and academia are common within the marketing, content development, and design industries. Industries can gather fresh ideas from a youthful perspective as well as free labor from the college students. Meanwhile, students can obtain practical knowledge through real experiences. In addition, colleges can raise their profiles by promoting their food projects.

Colleges have always tried to attract students with superior instructors, direct connections with industries, enjoyable campus life, modern and convenient facilities, flexible programs, and abundant resources, but these days, this is particularly important. Because of the declining birth rate, the capacity of colleges and universities in Japan now exceeds the college applicant population, meaning that anybody can enter these colleges and that competition among colleges and universities to attract students has become increasingly fierce. In order to survive, colleges and universities are striving to build competitive advantages. Active student projects are the perfect promotional tools.

Regardless of the reasons for these projects’ popularity, customers can benefit from college food projects. The more this trend flourishes, the more people can enjoy original, inventive flavors. Can’t wait to see the next fresh idea and taste it!

——— Reported by Noriko Komura