Behind the Scenes at the Japan State Dinner

Update: See Michelle Obama's frothy dress!

The Obama State China Service - The Obama State China Service, which the first lady helped design, will be used for the first time at the dinner. According to the White House, the unifying color, which she calls Kailua Blue, was inspired by the waters off Hawaii and is featured on bands with a crisp motif of relief lines. Mrs. Obama's goal for the 11-piece plate setting for 320 was to offer a more modern design aesthetic that will also complement preceding state services. The Obama service was paid for with a donation from the White House Endowment Trust. (Photo: MAI/Greg E. Mathieson /Landov)
The Menu - Guests will have the option of using chopsticks or a fork for the dinner, which includes a toro tartar and caesar sashimi salad, vegetable consommé en crout and shikai maki, and America Wagyu beef tenderloin, and for dessert a silken custard cake made with tofu and soymilk and petite fours and chocolates. The wines will be an American pinot noir and chardonnay. There also will be a Dassai sake toast. Guest chef Masaharu Morimoto, of Iron Chef fame, will be starring backstage in the White House kitchen.(Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)
A Gift of Spring - White House executive chef Cris Comerford shows off the first course, a Toro Tartare and Caesar Sashimi Salad wrapped up with a sprig of yellow flowers, that she described as a gift of spring.(Photo: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images)
A Sip of Tea - White House executive pastry chef Susan Morrison shows off a tour-de-force dessert course called “A Sip of Tea,” which includes petit fours based on Japanese teas  and features a teapot made from blown sugar. (Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)From Garden to State Dinner Table - On April 15, the first lady and a group of school children from around the nation planted five different vegetables in the White House kitchen garden. Their crop included bok choy, which will be featured in the consommé. Farms from around the nation also provided vegetables on the menu. (Photo: Gary Cameron/Landov)

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The Menu - Guests will have the option of using chopsticks or a fork for the dinner, which includes a toro tartar and caesar sashimi salad, vegetable consommé en crout and shikai maki, and America Wagyu beef tenderloin, and for dessert a silken custard cake made with tofu and soymilk and petite fours and chocolates. The wines will be an American pinot noir and chardonnay. There also will be a Dassai sake toast. Guest chef Masaharu Morimoto, of Iron Chef fame, will be starring backstage in the White House kitchen.(Photo: SAUL LOEB/AFP/Getty Images)

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