What Are The Characteristics Of Japanese Food And Japanese Food

There is an episode of Disneyland in California. One of the popular attractions, “It’s a Small World” got an upgrade in 2008. This was because an obesity of Americans. Boats frequently sank because of overweight guests, so they needed to fix it (Marcos). This story clearly illustrates the obesity crisis in America. In today’s world, 65% people in America are obese, and this percentage is the highest number in the world (Overweight). In contrast, Japan’s percentage of obese people is 3.6% (Overweight). I had doubts with this problem that what makes Americans obese compared with Japanese, and what are the differences between American food culture and Japanese food culture.Thus, I decided to research about the characteristics of American food

In 300 B.C., a culture began to develop around the Japanese with food. Rice agriculture was developed, and it spread all through various parts of Japan. Since then, rice has become one of the main food staples for the Japanese, it has been passed down from generation to generation until now. The formative period of the Japanese food culture was from AD 500 to 1500 (Hosking 2). The influence of Chinese food was strong during this period. Furthermore, from 1500 to 1640, Japanese food saw big changes because there were many different kinds of foreign foods that Europeans introduced, especially, the Portuguese who offered various cakes and deep fried foods such as tempura. From 1640 to about 1860, when Japan deliberately and strictly cut off all contact with the outside world, the maturing of traditional cuisine took place. Then, many new dishes and ingredients were introduced from abroad when Japan was once again open to the world (Hosking 3). As we could see from the background of Japanese food, modern Japanese food is mixed with traditional dishes and foreign dishes from many countries. Also, the geographical characteristics of Japan have had a large impact on their

Since Japan has four distinct seasons, people have chosen seasonal ingredients and prepared many different foods in accordance with the seasons. Moreover, traditional Japanese meals have consisted of small amounts but wide varieties of dishes that have provided various nutrients. For instance, according to the Japanese food book, “At the Japanese Table,” the author introduces famous foods such as Sushi with fish, Oyako Domburi with Chicken, Codfish and vegetable soup with fish, spinach and dried mushrooms, and Japanese noodles (Griffin 53). When we see characteristics of Japanese food culture, we can recognize different patterns from those introduced by Americans. In Japan, unlike America, people often eat food that mothers prepare at home except when they celebrate something. Furthermore, we have the word, Hara hatibu. This means filling a stomach at 80% is optimal. Therefore we often avoid eating too much, which keeps us from overusing our organs (Buettner). Due to this culture, people are more likely to focus on the quality rather than quantity. In other words, very important to Japanese people is how fresh and delicious the food they are eating is. A scholar who has been to Japan surprisingly mentions, “The ideal is fresh and raw,