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JAPAN · SIGNATURE EXPERIENCEJapan unfolds
at the table.
Between Tokyo’s precision, Fuji’s stillness and the gestures of Osaka and Kyoto, a journey led by the belief that understanding a place begins with meeting its people.
by World Cooking ExperienceEva Bronzini · Pexels
The experience · September 2027
A cultural journey.
Through every table.
Gastronomy is the thread. Through it, we meet the people, neighbourhoods, landscapes and crafts that give Japan its character.
The 2027 edition continues the 2026 programme, with the same confirmed experiences, hosts and accommodation. The journey brings together city and territory, tradition and contemporary life, stillness and intensity.
- When
- 27 September–8 October 2027
- Curator
- Victor Barros
- Journey language
- Portuguese
Relationships that give the journey meaning · WCE archiveMy reading · Victor Barros
“I don’t want you simply to visit Japan. I want you to sit at its table.”
That is what I prepare: a relationship. With the table, with the cook’s gestures, with what comes from land and sea, and with the time each moment deserves.
Some encounters need an appointed hour. Others ask for a pause, a walk, a choice of your own. I make room for both with the same care.
Read the curator’s letter ↗SIGNATURE EXPERIENCE
Presence, attention
and time.
The signature lies in how the journey is conceived and accompanied. Victor leads the group and connects each encounter with the purpose of the journey.
Understand
Connect the dish to its origin, the gesture to its transmission and the house to its territory.
Stay
Protect pauses and the freedom to choose. Attention needs space too.
Four territories · one narrative
Japan changes rhythm.
The table follows.
Each territory prepares the next. The final movement brings it all back to memory: the people we sat with and what we learned to notice.
Tokyo
Learning to see.
Forest and crossing, cuisine and design, memory and the contemporary city. Tokyo offers the contrasts through which we begin to read Japan.
Explore the journey ↗
Yamanashi & Fuji
A change of scale.
The city gives way to the land. Wine draws us closer to its origin; mountain and forest invite us to stay. Some places ask for time.
Explore the journey ↗
Osaka
Eating the city.
Water, ageing, counters and streets. Osaka restores the journey’s intensity and introduces a city that makes eating a form of togetherness.
Explore the journey ↗
Kyoto
Another measure of time.
Materials, gestures and hospitality. Kyoto invites a different kind of attention: looking closely at what is passed on, transformed and kept.
Explore the journey ↗The table as a language
The gesture teaches.
The material tells.
Counters, broth, wine, tea, ceramics, streets. The table changes scale and language along the way.
What is inherited and what is invented. Patience and impulse. What the season gives and what the table makes of it.
One conversation, in different registers.The journey · 2027 edition
Twelve days.
One continuous thread.
This is the confirmed 2027 programme. Activities, houses and participation conditions are detailed in the full 2027 presentation.
Before we begin
Arrive without haste. Arrival and departure receive their own guidance, according to each traveller’s journey.
- 01Tokyo
Time to arrive
Arrival in Tokyo, time-zone adjustment and time to rest before the first encounters.
- 02Tokyo
The first encounter
Arrive in the city, meet the group and discover the table as our starting point.
- 03Tokyo
Memory and precision
Neighbourhoods, flavours and crafts connect yesterday’s Japan with today’s city.
- 04Tokyo
From forest to gesture
Urban landscapes, transmission and cuisine expand the journey’s vocabulary.
- 05Tokyo
Design and discovery
Ginza makes room for architecture, materials and discoveries at your own pace.
- 06Yamanashi · Fuji
Landscape as an ingredient
Wine and terroir mark the passage from the city to another scale of hospitality.
- 07Fuji → Osaka
The art of transition
Stay, depart and arrive: the transition is part of the experience too.
- 08Kansai
Water, time and season
The origin and transformation of flavours guide a new chapter.
- 09Osaka
The city at the table
Cuisine, streets and urban conviviality leave room for personal choices.
- 10Kyoto
The beauty of transmission
Culture, gestures and materials reveal other ways to welcome and to stay.
- 11Osaka
The last table
The closing gathering brings the journey back to its people and the relationships made along the way.
- 12Osaka
Carry the journey with you
Farewell to Osaka and guidance for departure or a personal continuation of the trip.
Curated freedom
Free time
has been considered too.
Choosing, walking and resting belong to the experience. The curator prepares references and possibilities so that each person can find their own rhythm.
NihonbashiA neighbourhood to settle into.
GinzaAn afternoon to discover.
OsakaA night of possibilities.
The houses of the journey
Hospitality
is part of the journey.
One house helps us arrive. Another changes our sense of time. The third opens up possibilities again. This is the reading of hospitality guiding the next edition.
Tokyo
The first point of reference.
Get to know the neighbourhood, return between encounters and make the city familiar.
Fuji
Landscape as a home.
Stay close to the forest, slow down and let the landscape become part of your rest.
Osaka
A place to return to.
A base for the final movements, for time together and for choosing to step out again.
Accommodation for the 2027 edition: Mandarin Oriental, Tokyo · FUFU Kawaguchiko · Four Seasons Hotel Osaka. The photographs above depict the territories.
WCE CARE
Care sustains
every encounter.
Rhythm
Pauses and transitions receive the same attention as the tables.
Context
Portuguese-language accompaniment and guidance before each experience.
Individual attention
Individual needs and dietary requirements are considered with each house, experience by experience.
kizuna 絆
BY WORLD COOKING EXPERIENCE
Table,
matter
& time.
matter
& time.
JAPAN · ISSUE Nº 01
The journey begins in reading
There is a Japan
to read slowly.
Kizuna explores people, crafts, culture and hospitality. A publication to travel with before departure and revisit afterwards, when certain gestures have taken on a different meaning.
Discover the magazine and find the publications included in your access through WCE Passport.
Discover Kizuna ↗Enter WCE Passport ↗Traveller area
Your journey,
in WCE Passport.
Your edition’s booklet, information and publications, together in the client portal. Travellers in 2026 can continue to find their journey there.
Before we talk
The essentials,
clearly.
Do I need to speak Japanese or English?
The journey is accompanied in Portuguese. WCE arranges interpretation for encounters that require it.
Will the 2027 programme be the same as 2026?
Yes. The 2026 experiences, hosts and accommodation are confirmed for 2027. The journey runs from 27 September to 8 October, with arrival and departure days integrated into the itinerary.
Where can I find prices and conditions?
Identify yourself to access the full 2027 itinerary, including accommodation, inclusions and investment. Discuss participation terms with the curator.
What if I have dietary requirements?
Each requirement is assessed individually with the houses. Discuss it with WCE before deciding to join.
I am joining in 2026. Where is my booklet?
Use the traveller area in the menu. It leads to WCE Passport, where content is organised according to your participation.
The next encounter · 2027
Japan is
at our next table.
27 September–8 October 2027
Tokyo · Yamanashi & Fuji · Osaka · Kyoto