Food and cultural traditions from Japan's Toyama Prefecture were introduced to an international audience on Saturday during an event at the world expo in Milan.
At the food-themed event's Japan Pavilion, a chef explained how to prepare masuzushi, a local raw fish dish, by laying bamboo leaves in a container followed by vinegar rice and trout.
A 47-year-old visitor from the northern Italian city of Bergamo said he ate masuzushi for the first time and that it was delicious. He said that in Italy, trout was often grilled.
Visitors were also served sake and black tea in glass and metal cups made in Toyama Prefecture, with one 42-year-old visitor from Rome saying that the sake tasted good.
At the pavilion, women whose heads were covered by woven hats performed "Owara Kaze no Bon," a type of Bon dance passed on for generations in Toyama city.
Kembi Tachibana, 62, a member of the group dedicated to preserving the dance and its associated folk songs, said he wanted people to visit Toyama which had many kinds of delicious foods due to its location, close to both the sea and mountains.
Glasses used at the event were made by Toyama Glass Studio in Toyama city, while the molded cups were produced by Nousaku Corp. in Takaoka.