“Japanese Curry Festival 2024,” Featuring Unique Curry Shops from Across Japan, to Take Place in Shibuya, Tokyo from August 10 (Sat) to September 8 (Sun).
Celebrating Japan’s renowned curry culture with participants from across the nation, “Japanese Curry Festival” will be curated by curry aficionado Matsuo Hiroaki. Throughout the festival, alongside special events and live music performances, renowned curry shops from all over Japan will offer limited-time menus in Shibuya, participating in a stamp rally. The theme for the 4th edition in 2024 is “POWER OF JAPANESE CURRY.”
Exclusive pop-up shops will operate at 404 Kitchen in Shibuya Sakura Stage 4F and Goodbeer faucets in Matsutou. Featured shops include Shanka-Do (Osaka), Nani mo Ienakute… Katsu [Shunko Karashi (Osaka) × Japanese Spice Curry WACCA (Tokyo)], INDIA GATE (Kyoto), Matsumoto Mayer (Nagano), and 3FLAVOR CURRY (Miyagi), rotating to offer trendy dishes like “Neo Katsu Curry,” “Onigiri Spice Curry,” and “Wadashi Biryani.”
On August 10th (Saturday), the opening day of the event, a free-entry event titled “Curry and Japanese Culture” will be held at ComMunE on the 10th floor rooftop of Shibuya PARCO. Popular curry shops such as Japanese Spice Curry WACCA, Kitchen and Curry (Tokyo), and Spice and Sake Shakuraku Taberu (Saitama) will participate. The event will feature a talk session titled “JAPANESE CURRY WORLD SUMMIT 2024,” with guest speakers including Inada Shunsuke, head chef of Eric South, a South Indian cuisine chain with branches primarily in the Tokai, Kansai, and Kanto regions, and Korigari, winner of the Kanda Curry Grand Prix 2019, as well as a themed talk session “Curry and Japanese Culture” featuring anime director Asa Yuasa and film director Shinji Higuchi.
Later that evening, at CLUB ROSSO in Matsutou, Tokyo, a special live event titled “Spicy Summer Night” will be hosted by Tokyo Curry Club members Kyo Toyoda (Jill), guitarist for SOPHIA, and composer John Kurosaki. Matsumoto Mayer will also be participating as a curry shop, and tickets are currently on sale for this event.
On August 25th (Sunday), Spice Seven, a curry shop from Mishima, Shizuoka, will host a one-day-only curry party at the Cooking Room of the Nihon Shokuhin Sogo Kenkyujo in Daikanyama. On August 30th (Friday), an entry-free music event “exPoP!!!!! vol.165” will collaborate with the “Japanese Curry Festival” at Spotify O-nest in Maruyama-cho, featuring curry sales at the venue.
On September 7 (Sat.) and 8 (Sun.), the last weekend of the festival, “The Power of Curry “Curry no Fushigi Ten” presented by House Foods” will be held at 404 NOT FOUND on the 4th floor of Shibuya Sakura Stage, a free admission event. Higashi-Shinjuku Sunrather (Tokyo), Curry&Noble Strong Woman (Saitama), and Japanese Spice Curry WACCA will participate, and announcer Yuko Naito and musician Yuhi Komiyama are scheduled to appear as guests.
In addition, about 50 restaurants in Shibuya Ward will participate in a stamp rally that will start on August 1 (Thursday) prior to the festival. A novelty prize in collaboration with the “Yasai no Yosei N.Y.SALAD” anime will also be provided. Detailed participating stores and rally achievement conditions will be announced on the official website later.
In addition, “Tokyo Curry Culture in Summer in Shibusei” will be held from July 26 (Fri.) to September 9 (Mon.) at the Seibu Food Hall on the B1 floor of the Seibu Shibuya A building. About 100 kinds of retort curry from all over Japan, the latest frozen curry, curry tableware, curry T-shirts, an automatic Buddhist prayer machine “Buddha Machine,” and other curry and curry-related goods will all be on sale.
Concept of the event
Curry is a cultural icon of Shibuya.
Curry itself is a “cross-culture”.
The Silk Road, the Age of Discovery, colonial wars…different cultures collide and interact,
Spices were mixed, and curry was born there.
That is why curry still has the power to bring different cultures together.
It can be combined with any ingredients and any food genre,
It is a natural combination of music, art, and technology.
It is the combination of different cultures that creates spicy new values.
Isn’t this what Shibuya itself is all about?
The word “masala” means “to mix.
The Shibuya Scramble Crossing is indeed the “Shibuya Masala Crossing.
Outline of the event
Title: JAPANESE CURRY FESTIVAL 2024
Dates: August 10 (Sat) – September 8 (Sun), 2024
Official WEB site: https://japanese-curry-festival.com
Official X: @JCF_shibuya (https://x.com/JCF_shibuya)
Organizer: Pocket Curry Co., Ltd (https://www.pocketcurry.com)
Producer: Hiroaki Matsu (Curry Cell)
Sponsor: (OPENING DAY) SB Foods Corporation / (CLOSING DAYS) HOUSE FOODS CO.
Special Sponsor: Uke Corporation / Yomei Shuzo Co.
Cooperation: NiEW / Shibuya Asobaba Production Committee / Minrari / Shibuya Television
Supported by: Shibuya City Tourism Association
Web site production: Blanc New Tone (Kari-puak-puak / Ayumi Awaya)
Japanese Curry Festival Producer: Hiroaki Matsu (Curry Cell)
A curry curator who has traveled to more than 4,000 curry restaurants throughout Japan, Asia, Africa, and South America to promote curry culture under the name “Curry Cell”. He is a regular contributor to magazines and websites, and has made numerous media appearances, including on TBS’s “Matsuko no Shiranai Sekai” (The World Matsuko Doesn’t Know). Scriptwriter and general director of the anime “Yasai no Yousei N.Y.SALAD”. Author of “Nippon Curry Culture Guide.
Blog: https: //currycell.blog.fc2.com/
X: https://x.com/hm_currycell
Facebook: https: //www.facebook.com/CurryCell
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/h.m.currycell/
