Minaka Ono

I have big passions for pursuing tasty, healthy, and sustainable food innovations from traditional food culture.

I received a Master's degree in Food Innovation and Health at University of Copenhagen after my Bachelor's study in Health Sciences at The University of Tokyo.

I conduct research on umamification for a plant-forward cuisine to facilitate a green transition and investigate umami and koku sensation in plant-forward diet from culinary science as well as cultural aspects.

• Core member of European Miso Institute, European Miso Institute is a non-profit organization founded in 2022 with primary focus on bridging the knowledge gap and enhancing the understanding of miso (fermented bean paste) within European context through research, matchmaking and on-site collaborations., Joined as a core member in charge of connections to Japan, contacting Japanese miso organizations and cooking experts, and investigating miso-related research in Japan., https://misoinstitute.eu
• Venture cup 2023 - Category 'Green' Finalist, 06/20/2023, 06/21/2023, Selected as a finalist in Category 'Green' in the National Startup Competition 2023, a national competition for the best and brightest universities from Danish universities., Presented a seaweed product as a solution for tastier, healthier and more sustainable food consumption
• Madens Folkemøde, 06/03/2022, 06/03/2023, Madens Folkemøde is a food festival/public meeting with a wide range of debates, workshops, show kitchens, tasting and conversations, held in Lolland., Attended on 3-4 of June 2022 to help a startup company to represent their miso products, and on 2-3 of June 2023 to conduct a consumer survey with the prototypes developed during the thesis.
• Nordic Seaweed Conference 2022, 10/12/2022, 10/12/2022, Attended Nordic Seaweed Conference 2022 held in Grena, Denmark., Presented our seaweed spread for our Master's thesis and conducted a consumer survey with 4 prototypes of plant-based seaweed spread and collected data of 55 participants.
• Miso project - an elective course outside of scope at University of Copenhagen, 01/29/2022, 03/31/2022, Conducted an academic field trip to Japan to research miso., Application of miso in Danish context., Prof. Susanne Knochel
• MAD academy - Environment & Sustainability, 08/08/2022, 08/12/2022, Received a scholarship to attend five-day course in Environment & Sustainability at MAD academy, which was developed to provide for the future of sustainable business in hospitality and to encourage new practices and traditions that drastically reduce the footprint of food.
• Macrobiotic cooking school - Intermediate, 02/2021, 08/2021, Completed 20 classes and obtained intermediate certificate at Macrobiotic cooking school Lima, founded by the wife of George Ohsawa, a Japanese philosopher representing a macrobiotic way of life with liberating and enjoyable approach.