Staff Interview with Sawako Hashimoto

What inspired you to work for Japan Culinary Institute?

I love eating, and I was interested in working in the education field - so it was a perfect combination to work for a culinary school - helping people to learn about culinary art, while learning about food myself.

Describe a typical day at work.

When there are no courses, I answer inquiries about the courses, update information on websites or SNS, organize courses for students who will start soon, and contact chefs or restaurants in various locations and genres.

Why do you do what you do?

Japanese cuisine is one of the most interesting cuisines in the world, and the more I study about it, the more fascinated it becomes  - and I'd love to share my passion for Japanese cuisine with the world.

What is your favorite part of your job?

To receive good feedback from students who participated in the program is the best part of my job, to see their happy faces at the end of the course. Of course, I love the part that I learn something new every day about Japanese cuisine, although I was born and raised in Japan, the world of Japanese cuisine is deep and without end.

How do you use your education and international background in your current role?

I spent a part of my life in Italy and Europe, as well as in Latin America - and I came to believe that food truly connects people - eating together at the same table - conversation over food - cooking for someone and caring for each other - and eating good food makes people happy without words. I studied how to make the world a better place, and working in education and food connects all the dots.

What challenges do you often face and how do you overcome them?

As we work with chefs and food experts, restaurants, who are very busy, organizing lessons with their busy schedule and achieving a high level, satisfying program for each student is often challenging, so I start to prepare as soon as I receive inquiries.

What are some current projects you are working on?

We are trying to build a good alumni network so that students who work in Japanese food industry all over the world can connect and communicate through alumni networks, and find more business opportunities, information.

What advice would you tell your pre-travel self?

To have a clear image of what you'd like to achieve, and prepare in advance - we start preparing for the courses after we receive applications, so the more time we have, the better we can prepare.

What makes Japan Culinary Institute special?

Our focus is not on getting as many students as possible, but to make each student as satisfied as possible, and help them achieve their goals which they came to Japan for. We do not give just cooking lessons to follow recipes and techniques mechanically, but we insist on teaching cultural aspects that make the cuisine "authentic" - thoughts and history give meaning to each technique, and makes the food different from others. Most of our students come with a goal of successful Japanese restaurants in future, and for that to be different from the rest is the key. 

Why should someone choose your organization over competitors?

There are bigger schools with bigger classrooms and a bigger number of students, but if they choose our school, we will do our best to make their choice right - after all, we are a school for people who want to be different from the rest, and we can help that with all our experience and knowledge. Also, do not forget Atami's location is great - hot springs, the beach, and mountains - a perfect escape from chaos of big cities and feel good old Japan.

What hopes do you have for the future of Japan Culinary Institute?

Although we have started our school in Japan recently, we have experience in Italian culinary art school for 37 years - we hope that our school will grow to have hundreds of students like in Italy, and offer various experiences to both Japanese and people from outside Japan - and make our school something like a cultural learning and exchange spot for all!

Are there any developments with the Japan Culinary Institute that you would like to share with us?

We are now trying to expand our collaboration with more restaurants and chefs in Tokyo, too, so for people who prefer to take courses in Tokyo, we can provide courses in Tokyo, too.

What makes the Japan Culinary Institute easy to market to potential participants?

The goal of our organization is very clear, and our potential participants' goals are clear too - teach/learn authentic Japanese cuisine without language barrier - which makes it easy to market our courses.

What is the Japan Culinary Institute's mission and how do you continue to work toward it?

Our mission is to bring "authentic" Japanese cuisine to all over the world, and the best way to achieve it is by providing culinary training to people who are planning to work in Japanese food industry overseas.

What do you hope participants take away from the Japan Culinary Institute?

I hope participants take away from home some Japanese cultural thoughts on how to serve food - to respect people and nature, and be aware of small changes that make big differences.

How do you help support participants?

I try to ask them many questions before starting the course, and also after arriving, so that we know what they need, and we can support that. We do not just sell "ready-made" "fit-for-all" programs, so it is important for us to know each other.

If you could participate in one of the Japan Culinary Institute's programs, where would you go and what would you do?

I would go on sushi training, especially fish factory training, I think no school will offer students to practice cutting fish for hours, hundreds of pieces a day.

What questions do participants often ask you, and how do you typically respond?

They ask often about the exact schedule and program first, but we first need to know what their goals are and experiences, so that we can arrange a program good for them.

Why is it important for people to travel abroad and experience new cultures?

There are many things that you can know only when you are there - and food is not separated from the culture and context, so you cannot just learn how to cook Japanese cuisines without learning its culture.

Why do you think learning a new language is important?

Learning a new language helps to understand the culture more deeply, and know what people think is more important, and be more sensitive to what something means to one person means something different to another.

What advice do you have for individuals thinking about going abroad?

If you can do it, do it when you can do it! There are many others who wish they could, or did it when they could. Whatever you encounter will make you grow one way or another - but you can know only if you take one step forwards.

What does meaningful travel mean to you?

A meaningful trip teaches you something new, and expands the limit of your world. To get a new perspective on the world, the most effective way is to actually see the world from a different place.