Japanese Food Guide was founded by travel content creator and Japan expert Jessica Korteman in June 2021 to make positive change in the areas of gender parity and Japan-focused English-language content. Jessica only hires women contributors, a deliberate move by Jessica to change the face of an industry that often undervalues and underpays the contributions of women, and in the short time that the publication has been live has expanded to a team of fifteen. “The team is made up of a group of incredibly talented women writers who have extensive lived experience in Japan. They have the language and cultural skills, and access to information, that allows us to produce content that you won’t find anywhere else. That’s where the website’s tagline – ‘The Informed Guide to Japanese Food & Drink’ – comes from," says Jessica. “After living and working in Japan for a decade, and returning to Melbourne in 2019, I knew there was so much more that wasn’t being told about Japan’s history and culture around food, particularly in English publications, and that I was in a unique position to curate that content. “I also knew from my own first-hand experiences that so many women with extensive experience in-country were being sidelined or not even considered at all in favor of bringing in bloggers and writers from abroad and getting them to feature destinations after a whirlwind tour that often only lasted days, or a week or two. “There is certainly value in all kinds of content, including those that document arriving in a country for the first time and the myriad of things that surprise, delight and confuse. But when these experiences are misunderstood, which is common in Japan due to its unique language and culture, and then presented as fact in “Ultimate Guides” on large sites, we start to see the same misinformation appearing all over the place. “This is not to mention the huge amount of women’s expertise that is being missed by only hiring professional writers. I’m deliberately building a team of women who are in-the-know, regardless of their experience in content creation. These are women who have incredible insight into some of the most unique aspects of Japan’s culinary culture, but who may not have ever considered themselves writers, photographers or content creators. “A big part of my vision for Japanese Food Guide is to give a platform to those who might not usually have one and help build confidence by providing support and professional development opportunities in areas new to them."