Mie's sake and food head to the Czech Republic: a chef and a buyer visit Iga

Mie Prefecture, on the Pacific coast of central Japan, is turning its attention to a new market: Central and Eastern Europe. On 7 September 2026, the Mie Trade Information Centre of the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) invited Marek Hora (50), owner-chef of an upmarket Japanese restaurant in the Czech Republic, and one of the country’s largest buyers of Japanese food products to Iga, in the west of the prefecture. The aim is to open new sales channels for the prefecture’s food and drink and to expand exports.

Rice from an earthenware pot, and gin born from sake

The group first visited 365nichi, a café in a renovated old farmhouse. They sampled Iga rice cooked in a donabe, an earthenware pot made from Iga ware fired in a local kiln, as well as sukiyaki made with Iga beef, the local beef, and steamed vegetables. They also tasted a craft gin made from sake. Sake is a brewed drink made from rice and koji; distilling it and flavouring it with herbs and other botanicals produces a gin, a new form of Japanese drink that is easy to approach for Europeans used to gin.

Tableware and the culture of omotenashi too

The group then visited Hasegaen, an Iga ware kiln. Iga ware is pottery made from heat-resistant clay and is known as a centre of donabe production. Mr Hora was given an explanation of how the pots perform, and a representative explained that Iga ware has been prized in the world of chanoyu (the Japanese tea ceremony) and is closely tied to the culture of hosting guests. It is an attempt to convey not only the food and drink themselves, but also the tableware and the thinking behind the table around which they are enjoyed.

From the Czech Republic to Central and Eastern Europe

Mr Hora also serves as a goodwill ambassador promoting Japanese food in the Czech Republic. Compared with Western Europe, Central and Eastern Europe is a region that Japanese sake and food products still struggle to reach. Having an influential local chef and a major buyer responsible for distribution see the production area first-hand could be a first step towards getting Mie products onto tables in the region.

For European readers, a good place to start is sake-based gin. If you come across it in a Japanese grocery or a specialist spirits shop, you could try it neat to appreciate the soft, rice-derived aroma, or mix it with tonic and pair it with a meal. Another thing to watch is whether rice and sake from Mie begin to appear on the menus of Japanese restaurants in the Czech Republic and elsewhere in Central and Eastern Europe.