About Osaka

The Tsuji Culinary Institute Group is one of Japan's largest comprehensive food education institutions, attracting students from all over Japan and overseas. Centered around the Tsuji Culinary Institute, which was opened in Abeno, Osaka in 1960 by the late Shizuo Tsuji, the group operates two vocational schools (Tsuji Culinary Institute and Tsuji Confectionery Institute) and four miscellaneous schools (Ecole Tsuji Osaka, Ecole Tsuji Tokyo, and Tsuji Culinary Institute France) in Osaka, Tokyo, and France. The group employs approximately 350 full-time faculty members and boasts over 140,000 graduates since its founding, many of whom are active both in Japan and overseas.

Founder Shizuo Tsuji was an educator, researcher and pioneer among Japanese gourmets. After opening Tsuji Culinary Institute, he made numerous trips to Europe, deepening his understanding of cuisine and researching literature, while also forming friendships with many chefs, including Paul Bocuse, Jean Troisgros and Bernard Loiseau. The results of his research were put to use in theoretical education, with his book "French Cuisine: Theory and Practice" being used as a textbook at Tsuji Culinary Institute, and his friendships with chefs helped provide Japanese chefs with the opportunity to learn authentic French cuisine. In 1980, he opened a French school in the Rhone department in France, and established a course that allowed students to thoroughly learn authentic French cuisine on-site.

Currently, the school offers an increasing number of specialized courses in fields other than French cuisine, including Japanese cuisine, Chinese cuisine, Italian cuisine, and confectionery, providing education that meets the needs of an increasingly specialized and diverse era. In addition, in 2015, the Shizuo Tsuji Food Culture Foundation was established, and the Shizuo Tsuji Food Culture Award and the Shizuo Tsuji Food Culture Award Professional Technician Award are presented annually to those who have contributed to the development of food culture.