On Thursday, February 26, the Food Tech Public-Private Council’s FY2025 3rd General Meeting / Proposal and Reporting Session, hosted by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, was held at Tokyo Innovation Base STAGE (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo). The Food Tech Public-Private Council is an initiative that brings together industry, academia, and government to solve problems and create new markets. Its goal is to promote resource-recycling food supplies and build foundations for new food technologies to ensure the sustainable development of the food and agriculture sectors and strengthen food security.

This year’s general meeting was attended by a diverse range of stakeholders, including private companies, universities, research institutions, and government agencies, who shared the latest trends in the food tech field and the initiatives of each organization. From JIRCAS, Dr. MARUI Junichiro, Senior Researcher in the Biological Resources and Post-harvest Division, took the stage to deliver a presentation titled "Taking Japanese Koji to the World." He introduced international joint research currently being conducted with Japanese companies and researchers from Thailand and Laos to deploy food production technologies that utilize Japanese koji to create safe, highly nutritious food products overseas. At the venue, participants listened intently, showing high interest in how Japan’s traditional fermentation technology can contribute to the global food industry.

Furthermore, at the accompanying exhibition booth, JIRCAS introduced a wide range of research and development activities and examples of social implementation achieved through collaboration with the private sector. It served as a valuable opportunity for many visitors to learn about the research content directly, leading to a lively exchange of opinions.

JIRCAS will continue to actively utilize such industry-academia-government exchange opportunities to expand platforms for researchers to present their results, while striving to promote understanding and increase awareness of its research activities.