Twenty-two professional chefs from hotel restaurants in Hofu city learned to prepare Serbian traditional dishes – gibanica, sataras, Karadjordje cutlet and cakes made of dried prunes, after attending gastronomy classes held by Ms. Tijana Nigato of the Serbian Embassy in Japan.

The event was filmed by NHK Japanese public service, whose five-minute clip was shown in the Yamaguchi Prefecture, the same day. The cookery class was also reported on by the Japanese daily newspaper Mainichi Shimbun, quoting the "Ueda" local restaurant manager as saying: "Nothing interferes with the taste of ingredients, I would surely like to serve these dishes in my own restaurant".



This was the first time Ms. Nigato held a cookery class in Hofu, resulting in the Serbian menu being occasionally served at lunch time in some ten primary and secondary schools in Hofu. Last time Serbian dishes were served in schools was on the occasion of "Sretenje" holiday, on 15 February 2018.



In addition to holding cooking classes, the Serbian Embassy representative also visited "Sava" Primary School in the city's centre, named after its river namesake. The school cooperates with "St. Sava" School in Sremska Mitrovica. Ms. Nigato took questions from first, second and fifth form pupils, and held a presentation on Serbia in the Japanese language, for 150 pupils. Local "Yamaguchi Shimbun" wrote that exchanges began between the Japanese school and its namesake in Serbia, and that drawings and calligraphy works by Hofu children were sent out in May, while souvenirs were received from the Serbian school.



Moreover, Hofu was designated to host the Serbian National Volleyball Team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.