THE ASAHI SHIMBUN
October 23, 2019 at 14:50 JST
Dishes served with wine and sake at a palace banquet for guests, including visiting royal families and heads of state (Provided by the Imperial Household Agency)
In a feast fit for an emperor, the Imperial Palace held a stunning “kyoen-no-gi” banquet for about 300 dignitaries on the evening of Oct. 22 following Emperor Naruhito’s enthronement ceremony.
Royal families, heads of state and representatives of international organizations were among the 249 overseas guests who came from 164 countries and regions.
They dined mainly on traditional Japanese “washoku” cuisine.
The Imperial Household Agency used chefs from the Prince Hotel to create the dishes. The luxury hotel’s chefs also produced the delicacies served at the 1990 enthronement ceremony for Naruhito’s father, Akihito, who is now the emperor emeritus.
Most menu items were washoku, but the ingredients were carefully selected to satisfy guests from Western countries accustomed to eating meat dishes.
The chefs also prepared halal dishes cooked in accordance with Islamic precepts for guests from Muslim countries, as well as vegetarian dishes.
Additional palace banquets are scheduled for Oct. 25, 29 and 31.
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