Artist Sebastian Masuda provided creative direction at the “CJPF Awards 2024,” which is sponsored by the Cool Japan Public-Private Partnership Platform (Secretariat: Cabinet Office Intellectual Property Strategy Promotion Secretariat) and recognizes efforts to communicate the appeal of Japan overseas. The sushi restaurant “SUSHIDELIC NY” won the Grand Prix in the project category.
“CJPF Award 2024” promotes the Cool Japan strategy to spread the appeal of Japan overseas and increase the number of Japanese fans, as inbound tourism recovers after the coronavirus and interest in Japan increases. This is an award that will be held as soon as possible. The project category recognizes projects for overseas expansion and inbound tourism that develop the appeal of Japan as a story that can resonate with foreigners. This award was received because it was evaluated as a new form of Cool Japan that can be offered in Japan.
From left:
Chief Judge: Mr. Kenichi Watanabe (Director of Cool Japan Public-Private Collaboration Platform)
Artist Sebastian Masuda
Sanae Takaichi, Minister of State for Special Missions (Cool Japan Strategy), Cabinet Office
Chief Judge: Tsuyoshi Natsuno (Co-Chairman, Cool Japan Public-Private Collaboration Platform)
■About “SUSHIDELIC NY”
“SUSHIDELIC NY” is the most popular Japanese food in the United States, and “SUSHI”, which has already become a part of our lifestyle, has been given a completely new look through the creative direction of Sebastian Masuda, an artist who creates works with a unique sense of color. We opened in June 2023 in the Soho district of New York, USA, where highly sensitive people gather as a sushi restaurant updated with a new perspective.
The original menu is served in a psychedelic and iconic space that makes you feel as if you have wandered into another world.After moving to the United States in 2001, he worked as an executive chef at Japanese restaurants such as EN Japanese Brasserie in New York, and currently works as a local chef. It was devised in collaboration with Hiroki Abe, a Japanese chef who works as a private chef at corporate events, and technologically supported by AUTEC, which boasts the number one market share of automatic sushi machines in North America. A fusion of Japanese chefs and Japanese food tech, we offer an “immersive kawaii food experience” that goes beyond a mere restaurant meal, where you can see, touch, and eat Sebastian Masuda’s “Kawaii.”
After the store opened, it was introduced as a “New-generation Sushi restaurant” in local media such as “NEW YORK POST” and “EATER NY,” and its appeal was spread to 71 countries around the world through Reuters News Agency. it was done. The store has become such a hot topic that it has sold out immediately after opening, with a waiting list of 2,000 people at one point, and is visited not only by locals but also by many tourists visiting New York from all over the world.
“SUSHIDELIC NY” will continue to update its menu and experiences to match local seasons and events in order to spread the uniqueness of Japanese culture to the world.
We are also looking for partnerships with companies, with a view to collaborating with Japanese pop culture content and opening multiple stores in Japan and overseas, mainly in North America.
[Project category judge comments]
Chairman of the Judging Committee: Tsuyoshi Natsuno (Co-chairman of the Cool Japan Public-Private Collaboration Platform/Director of the Institute of Informatics, Kindai University, Special Invited Professor)
By combining sushi and cute, we are creating a new form of Cool Japan that offers SUSHI, which has become established throughout the world, with a completely new added value. We highly rate this as an attempt worthy of this year’s Grand Prix.
[Comment from Creative Director Sebastian Masuda]
Thank you very much for receiving such a wonderful award.
We have created this restaurant based on the Japanese pop culture of “Kawaii” and combining it with the traditional “SUSHI.”
“Kawaii” can be said to be a philosophy that can transcend race, religion, age, gender, and national borders. “WABI SABI” is known overseas as a Japanese tradition, but there is another important culture that Japan has cultivated called “HARE.” I’ve been based in New York for the past two years, and I feel every day that this city needs a happy, colorful world view and Japanese creativity.
I hope that the younger generation will believe in the possibilities of the future and create content for a new era.
Movies (videos) and projects (videos) that deal with the appeal of Japan in a wide range of fields such as food and food culture, tourism resources, manufacturing and content (entertainment, manga, anime, etc.), and things that make full use of cutting-edge digital technology. We will be recruiting and awarding awards in two categories (business). The “Movie (Video) Category” is a movie (video) that conveys the charm of Japan as a story to overseas, and the “Project (Business) Category” is a movie that conveys the charm of Japan as a story to foreigners. We are looking for projects (businesses) for overseas expansion or inbound tourism that will be developed as a story. From among the applications, videos and projects that are suitable for the “Cool Japan Strategy” will be selected and awarded.
Website:https://cjpf.jp/award/
<“SUSHIDELIC NY” store overview>
Address: 177 Lafayette St, New York, NY 10013
Website:https://www.sushidelic.net
Instagram: @sushidelic.nyc(https://www.instagram.com/sushidelic.nyc/)
Contact: info(a)sushidelic.net*Please change (a) to @ when sending an email.
artist
Born in 1970. He has been involved in theater and contemporary art since the early 1990s, and in 1995 opened the shop “6%DOKIDOKI” as a place for expression. Currently based in New York, he creates works that transcend the boundaries of art, fashion, and entertainment with a consistent and unique sense of color. He helped make Kawaii culture known around the world, including designing Kyary Pamyu Pamyu’s “PONPONPON” MV and producing KAWAII MONSTER CAFE. He continues to create all the phenomena that exist in the world as materials.
2017 Agency for Cultural Affairs Cultural Envoy, 2018 New York University Visiting Researcher, 2019 Newsweek Japan 100 Japanese People Respected by the World.
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