4 JAPAN SPECIAL ADVERTISING SECTIONFamed for its fresh and quality ingredi-
ents, Japanese cuisine, or Washoku, is
revered around the world. In 2013, Ja-
pan became only the second country
after France to have its cuisine added
to UNESCO’s Intangible Cultural Herit-
age list. As of the end of 2017, Japan
and France also top the list of the coun-
tries with the most Michelin three-star
restaurants – Japan is ranked irst with
28, while France has 27.
Not only delicious, Washoku is re-
garded as one of the healthiest cui-
sines in the world, and is the main
reason why the country’s 127 million
inhabitants enjoy one of the longest
life expectancy rates in the world and
why Japan enjoys exceptionally low
igures of obesity, as compared to oth-
er advanced nations such as Germany
and the U.S.
With the increasing global de-
mand for healthy, fresh and quality
food increasing, it is no wonder that
Washoku’s popularity has grown
rapidly. According to a survey by Ja-
pan’s Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry,
and Fisheries (MAFF), in July 2015the number of Japanese restaurants
across the world (excluding Japan)
was close to 89,000, a 60% increase
on the 55,000 registered in 2013, and
more than triple the 24,000 counted
in the 2006 survey.
Another survey conducted by the
Japan External Trade Organization
(JETRO) suggests that Washoku is ofi-
cially the world’s favorite cuisine. In its
survey, JETRO asked people in China,
Hong Kong, Taiwan, South Korea, the
U.S., Italy and France: “What is your
favorite cuisine when you go out to
eat in foreign restaurants?” In every
place except the U.S., Japanese cuisine
was the most popular answer. Around
a quarter of the people surveyed in
China, Hong Kong, and South Korea
chose Japanese food; while in Taiwan
it was a ifth.
The growing popularity of Japanese
food across Asia comes at the perfect
time for those in Japan’s private sector
who face demographical challenges at
home. With a declining domestic food
market, a result of Japan’s aging and
shrinking population, many JapaneseSATISFYING ASIA’S
GROWING APPETITE FOR
HIGH-QUALITY
Faced with a shrinking domestic market, Japanese
companies in the food industry hope to leverage on
demand from Asia’s growing middle classes for high-quality
products, and the rapidly rising popularity of Japanese
cuisine throughout the regionDue to high economic growth, demand for
electricity in the ASEAN region is projected
to double by 2030, growing between 6
and 7 percent annually. This means big
opportunities for foreign investors in the
ASEAN power grid.
With 70 years of ex-
perience in the Japanese
domestic market, Tokyo
Energy & Systems Inc.
(TES) specializes in the de-
sign and construction of
thermal, nuclear and hy-
droelectric power plants.
Bringing its expertise
and Japanese-style atten-
tion to high quality, TES
has set its sights on the
ASEAN region, and has
established two joint ventures in Thailand,
SCI Enesys Co., Ltd. and TES Practicum Co.,
Ltd. The company wants to support the re-
gion in developing the most advanced and
energy eficient power grid in the world.
“The ASEAN market bears huge po-
tential, which derives from the large need
to improve the management of its exist-ing energy landscape,” explains Tsutomu
Kumagai, president of TES. “Furthermore,
ASEAN has the potential to build the best
electrical infrastructure in the world, using
a large scope of energy sources towards
a more eficient supply- fewer losses and bet-
ter productivity at lower
operational costs.”
“Our competitive ad-
vantage is that we im-
plement infrastructural
projects that are sustain-
able over time. Thanks to
our continued support
services, we supply the
maintenance required
to create long-lasting
projects. Energy systems
are not just about putting a power grid
and support hardware in place. It is also
about making available to future local
operators solid tools and support ser-
vices (in which there is no match in the
market to the Japanese portfolio) that
enable them to manage such infrastruc-
ture in a exible and sustainable way.”
TOKYO ENERGY & SYSTEMS
LOOKS TO POWER ASEAN
Tsutomu Kumagai,
President, Tokyo Energy &
Systems Inc.