Beitou Radium Kagaya presents "2016 Noto Taste Festival." From November 17-20, Head Chef Uso Fujio from Japan\'s Wakura Onsen Kagaya - voted #1 Japanese hot spring inn for 36 consecutive years - will guest cook in Taiwan. Fresh ingredients from Ishikawa Prefecture and Hokuriku sake are air-freighted for the "Noto Feast" lunch banquet. Evenings feature Taiwan\'s first traditional Japanese "Hocho-shiki" (knife ceremony) performance dating from the Heian period. Free viewing for all same-day guests. Details: 02-2898-5555 ext. 5102 or 5352.

Japan\'s #1 Inn Head Chef Guest Cooks: Noto Land & Sea Ingredients

Japan Kagaya\'s 5th-generation Head Chef Uso Fujio is one of 10 Japanese cuisine instructors appointed by the Japan Ryokan Association. Specializing in washoku and traditional Noto cuisine, he has prepared meals for Japan\'s Emperor and Empress and important VIPs. He is instrumental in Kagaya\'s 36 consecutive years as #1 in Japan\'s Top 100 Inns comprehensive ranking. From November 17-20, Chef Uso guest cooks in Taiwan, collaborating with Beitou Radium Kagaya Head Chef Shibasaki Toru\'s team for the "Noto Feast" lunch featuring air-freighted Noto ingredients in a "Drum Bento - Three-Tier Kaiseki Box" paired with Hokuriku sake, at NT$3,000+10% per person.

During the same period at 6 PM nightly, Chef Uso presents Taiwan\'s first traditional Japanese "Hocho-shiki" ceremony. Originating in the Heian period, this ritual requires a master chef of supreme skill and focused mind to use a hocho knife and long chopsticks to carve ingredients before an audience following the "one cut, one bow" principle, expressing respect and gratitude for life while praying for bountiful harvests. Free for all same-day guests. From November 17-30, guests booking the "Setsugekka One-Night-Two-Meals Premium Package at NT$18,000+10%" or the banquet hall "Noto Taste Festival Banquet at NT$3,500+10%/person" can also enjoy limited-time Ishikawa Prefecture special menus.

Japan\'s Kagaya in Wakura Onsen, Ishikawa Prefecture, is universally known as the ultimate hot spring inn. Its century-old female innkeeper (okami) culture carries endless tales of glory and legend. The "heartfelt hospitality" service has moved Japan\'s Emperor, and Taiwan\'s former President Lee Teng-hui also praised it highly. For 36 consecutive years #1 in Japan\'s Top 100 Inns, it\'s been called the "inn you want to stay at once in your lifetime" by the Japanese public. This visit brings the Head Chef to Beitou Radium Kagaya - Kagaya\'s only overseas branch - combining fresh Noto Peninsula ingredients for a cross-border sensory feast.

About Hocho-shiki

Hocho-shiki originated in the mid-Heian period and is documented in numerous historical texts including "The Tale of Genji" and "Uji Shui Monogatari." Today it can be seen at shrine dedications, celebrations, and ceremonies across Japan, with different schools including Shinshi-ryu, Ikama-ryu, and Okusa-ryu.

The ceremony features a hocho master wearing an eboshi hat and kariginu robe, seated before a special wooden cutting board. With hocho knife in right hand and long chopsticks in left, the master carves ingredients without ever touching them by hand - requiring not only superb knife skills but also complete concentration. This 2,000-year-old cultural tradition, beyond its blessing significance, expresses the Japanese spirit of respect for nature and life, holding an integral position in "washoku" cuisine, which UNESCO has designated as an Intangible Cultural Heritage.

From November 17-20, Japan Kagaya Head Chef Uso Fujio will perform the "Ikama-ryu Hocho-shiki" at Beitou Radium Kagaya for his first time in Taiwan. Free for all same-day guests - absolutely not to be missed!