Fellow Programme · Kyoto · October 2026
The Kyoto pantry opens for you.
Chefs are invited into the valley that supplies Kyoto — to explore it: rice fields and traditional soy sauce breweries, koji rooms and heirloom seed growers, the makers and the techniques they have kept alive. Five days inside the region, then three on a retreat of your choosing.
- 5 days
- JOURNER
- 3 days
- Retreat
- 5 places
- Left for chefs
- 20 min
- West of Kyoto
Tsuchi 土 — earth, soil, ground
Not a food tour. Time inside one region's food system.
Kameoka sits in a river basin west of Kyoto, under fog most autumn mornings. It grows vegetables for the city, ferments its own soy sauce and miso, and is quietly rebuilding an agriculture that gives more back to the land than it takes.
The valley's knowledge sits with its people: families who have run the same soy sauce and miso breweries for generations, rice growers who still cut and stack by hand, koji makers, seed keepers and the researchers helping them carry it forward. Their calendar, not ours, sets the season.
7–16 October 2026
The Programme
Fellows come to discover the region, not to work a service. Time in the kitchen is there if you want it, and easy to skip if you don't.
Wed 7 Oct
Arrival in Kyoto & Welcome Dinner
Arrival
Arrive in Kyoto and settle into your hotel. In the evening, gather for a special Kameoka Gastronomy Dinner at one of Kyoto's most coveted tables, reserved exclusively for our group. The menu is built around the ingredients, landscapes and producers of Kameoka — an introduction to the region before meeting the people behind the food in the days ahead.
Thu 8 Oct
Field Tour & Meet Kyoto-Tamba
Day 1 · required
Morning: drive to the Kyoto-Tamba region. We will explore the land, the landscape, and local ingredients to better understand the region, its culture and food.
Fri 9 Oct
Test Kitchen & Tasting Session
Day 2 · optional
Chefs from around the world and local chefs from Kyoto-Tamba come together to exchange ideas and equipment and develop dishes using local ingredients. Evening - free time to explore the city.
Sat 10 Oct
Field Tour & Meet the Farmers
Day 3 · optional
Visits to farmers and producers supporting the region's agricultural and fermentation culture, including soy sauce and miso makers. We will discover the people, stories, and ingredients behind Kyoto-Tamba's food culture.
Sun 11 Oct
Festival Preparation
Day 4 · chefs cooking
Working closely with local ingredients discovered along the way, chefs prepare their dishes for the festival. Dish preparation takes place in officially licensed professional kitchens for anyone cooking on festival day.
Mon 12 Oct
TSUCHI FEST in Kameoka
Day 5 · ★ festival day
From fields to plate - sharing the dishes inspired by discoveries of land, people, ingredients, tastes, and techniques with festival guests. Each guest chef serves roughly 150–200 tasting portions of a plant-based dish made with Kameoka ingredients. Fellows are welcome to join in the kitchen if they choose to.
14–17 Oct
Three additional days outside Kameoka, on the retreat you select
Choose your retreat
Kyoto & Shiga — Fermentation, satoyama landscapes, water culture, and the relationship between traditional and contemporary food practices.
Nagano — Mountain agriculture, fermentation, rural communities, and ways of living deeply connected to the land.
Programme fee
One fee. Eight days, fully planned.
Accommodation, ground transport, main meals, five days inside the Kameoka programme and three days on the retreat of your choosing — all arranged.
€2,900
per chef · shared-room basis · 9 nights
Only 5 places — apply early
Book your place
Included
- ＋Five days inside the TSUCHI FEST programme in Kameoka, 8–13 Oct
- ＋Field visits to farms, koji rooms, soy sauce and miso makers
- ＋Three additional days on a regional retreat, 14–17 Oct
- ＋Accommodation and main meals throughout, shared-room basis
- ＋Domestic transportation inside the official itinerary
- ＋Access to a test kitchen and local ingredients, if you want to experiment
- ＋Interpretation and programme coordination throughout
- ＋Small-group dialogue with producers, chefs, researchers and community leaders
Not included
- －Round-trip international airfare to Japan
- －Travel insurance
- －Visa fees, if applicable
- －Personal meals, alcoholic beverages, and shopping
- －Accommodation or travel outside the official itinerary
Kameoka, Kyoto prefecture
Twenty minutes from Kyoto station. A different century.
River gorges, morning fog, the first Japanese city to ban plastic bags, and a farming community rebuilding its soil. This is where the festival happens.
Before you apply
Questions
- How does my participation in the festival (as a chef) look?
- Fellow chefs are welcome, but never required, to prepare a dish for the festival day. Many join to present their cooking and to work with Kameoka produce first-hand; others purely observe, learn, and take part in the field visits and dialogue.
- How many places are there?
- Just five places for chefs in 2026. We keep it small so that every conversation with a producer is a real one.
- How long is the programme?
- Five days inside the festival programme in Kameoka, 8–13 October, plus three additional days on the retreat you choose, 14–17 October. Fellows usually arrive on 7 October.
- Do I pay when I apply?
- No. Applying costs nothing. We review each application personally and reply within five working days with next steps and payment details.
- What is the language of the programme?
- English, with Japanese interpretation provided throughout field visits, kitchen work and dialogue sessions.