“Across Japan, chefs at The Ritz-Carlton consider every component of the dishes they create to ensure that only the finest, freshest ingredients are incorporated into dishes that also pay deep respect to the region in which they’re served.”

“Japanese cuisine” is a little like saying “American food,” in that regional specialties set one area’s dishes apart from another’s. Take Okinawa, which sits more than 950 miles south of Tokyo: The regional cuisine incorporates produce that can be cultivated in such a warm, tropical environment—mangoes, pineapple—and locally grown Agu pork that’s less common further north.

No matter which city they work in, though, the chefs are thoughtful about every ingredient in their dishes—down to the rice and sometimes even the water it’s boiled in. Head here for the full piece about the country’s “source-to-table” movement, at The Ritz-Carlton’s “Journey Into The Ritz-Carlton” site.