Why you should join us at WONCA APR in Kyoto (Japanese cuisine)

Dates: May 15-18, 2019
Venue: Kyoto, Japan
Discounted registration ends March 11

Conference website:
One of the enjoyments of visiting a foreign country will always be eating and drinking. Japanese cuisine (washoku) offers an abundance of gastronomical delights with a boundless variety of regional and seasonal dishes, as well as international cuisine. In this issue of ‘Why you should join us at WONCA APR in Kyoto’, I will review several Japanese dishes which are not expensive VIP ones, but ordinary, everyday, tasteful ones you should try when you come to Kyoto.

First of all, for lunch I recommend Udon noodles (pictured). Udon noodles are thick Japanese noodles made of wheat flour. They are thicker than soba noodles which are made of buckwheat flour. Udon is widely available at restaurants across Japan and prepared in various hot and cold dishes.

The next dish I will recommend is Okonomiyaki. Okonomiyaki is a popular pan fried food that consists of batter and cabbage. Selected toppings and ingredients are added which can vary greatly (anything from meat to seafood). This variability is reflected in the dish's name: "okonomi" literally means "to one's liking".

Takoyaki is also one of my recommendations. It is a ball-shaped Japanese snack made of a wheat flour batter and cooked in a special molded pan. It is typically filled with minced or diced octopus, tempura scraps, pickled ginger, and green onion.

Appropriate for dinner and at a reasonable cost is my suggestion of Yakitori. Yakitori is grilled chicken skewers made from bite sized pieces of meat, from all different parts of the chicken. Sushi and Tempura are also appropriate for dinner, however, you better consult your local friends, or travel guides, to choose reasonable restaurants, because some of these dishes can be fairly expensive.

Although I have no intention to downgrade the Kyoto Kaiseki cuisine, they are usually fairly expensive and not particularly tasteful, although they will entertain your eyesight by their artistic arrangement.

kindly yours,

Prof Nobutaro Ban
Representing the Japan Primary Care Association
Chair, Organizing Committee, WONCA APR 2019 Japan

Professor and Director
Medical Education Center
Aichi Medical University School of Medicine