Shinichiro Takagi is proactively shaping the future of Japanese fine dining.

On Aug. 21, the second-generation owner of two-Michelin-starred Zeniya in Kanazawa, Ishikawa Prefecture, will take four talented high school students, winners of the All Japan High School Students Washoku Grand Prix, to New York, where they will stage at two of the city’s top restaurants: Danny Meyer’s one-starred Gramercy Tavern and two-starred Gabriel Kreuther.

It’s a project Takagi believes will pay dividends for the next generation of Japan’s fine-dining stars.