Hello again! It is the blog How Unique Japan!
In this section, we would like to introduce various Japanese foods! As you know, there is no doubt that Japan has many unique foods and menus worth trying!
Why does Japan have those?
On the front page, we have already touched on the reason. Besides, there are two reasons.
First, Japan’s main products are vegetables and rice. Eating meat (except fish) was forbidden for so long by the main Japanese religion, Buddhism. Thus, our food crops are mainly.
And second is the climate of Japan. Let’s see more.
When did the Japanese become like vegetarians?
Following the first reason, it is the ancient Japanese emperor (Tenno).
In 75 AD, the emperor Temmu followed the religion from China, Buddhism, because he thought Japan needed it to organize society (Citizens) under his control. Since then, it has still been our common religion.
So, Buddhism is the key. That religion strongly forbade eating animals, including cows, horses, birds, and monkeys(!). It is hard to imagine how much the Ancient Japanese struggled to avoid eating meat for over 1200 years.
That is why the Japanese have become like a vegetarian tribe, and the food has become healthy.
The rich climates
The second. Luckily, Japan is a proper country for growing vegetables because it is a long island from North to South.
That means we can smoothly nurture multiple products (vegetables) because of varying weather and soil conditions in each area.
For example, they can have Daikon (Japanese white radish) around the northern part and potatoes because they are tough against cold.
On the other hand (around the southern area), they can have eggplant, tomato, or green soybeans because they are strong against the heat. Each area created a unique menu based on the featured product.
It is also the reason why many Japanese foods are healthy. It is because most of the menus are made from vegetables.
It is not yet. The country has four seasons. These have been impressing all the Japanese with their natural beauty.
Thus, many traditional/ancient artists, dancers, and even chefs tried to express those. It is the second reason.
For those reasons, Japan has successfully created many kinds of vegetables (food) and menus from them.
Oh, and please do not forget about the rice. It is also a Japanese regular product.
Let’s see more!
Now, you might understand why there are many foods and menus. Then, you also acknowledge how hard it is for us to find the proper article about Japanese food that you want to read.
That is why we categorized some food below. If you want to see some fermented food in Japan, click it and open the page.
Oh? Don’t you know about fermented food? Please click here.
Vegetables
As already suggested, Japan has various kinds of vegetables and beans. In this section, we tried to specialize in each. Try to find the proper article you want to see on the line in alphabetical order.
Azuki (Red beans)
Daikon (Japanese White radish)
Sweets
There are also varied traditional sweets in Japan. Check them out!
Taiyaki
Dagashi (small and cheap snacks)
Noodles
Fermented food
The Japanese have developed unique methods for storing food products. It is Fermenting.
Indeed. The ancient Japanese successfully utilized fungi, bacteria, or oryzae to keep the food edible. However, the method also produces more nutrition.
Japanese pickles
It is one of the common ways to keep food around the world. It’s Pickling.
However, the Japanese pickles (called Tsukemono) have varied (so much) because of the number of vegetable kinds. Seriously, any vegetable would be tasty pickles in Japan.
Take a look at the article about that, if you want.
Dry food
The method of fermentation is not the only way to protect.
Drying food for storage was also a popular technique to prevent.
They (ancient Japanese) created such a way over 4000 years ago!
Since then, we have been improving the taste of food.
If you are interested, Check here!
Soup
Miso soup, Oden soup, and Sukiyaki. We Japanese indeed have various soup meal. Let us see more details in each menu here!
To close
It is all for the simple explanation of Japanese food. As this article said, this topic (J-food) has a lot of complicated information. Please utilize the Search bar and categorized articles above.
However, our blog is not yet. We shall have the other catchy articles. They are about the Edo era with details about laws and social systems.
Moreover, an article on the Japanese lifestyle is also here. It also has details of the unique furniture, activities/sorts (Sumo Westling), and toys.
If you have free time and nothing to do, try to check them to erase your boring time (by boosting your knowledge).
OK! It is time to go! Thank you so much for reading this article! New information on Japan is continuously coming!
See you for the next uniqueness of Japan!