Japanese Food History
What is Japan for YOU?
Strange, but interesting people, age-long traditions and customs, marvelous places to visit or unforgettable national Japanese cuisine?
It might be interesting to know, that Japan is an archipelago (chain of islands) made up of about 3,000 islands. About two thirds of the land is too mountainous for development, so almost all the people live in cities.
Nowdays, Japan is interesting for millions of people with its national cuisine. It has been influenced by the customs of other nations, but has adopted and refined them to create its own unique cooking style and eating habits.
Japanese cuisine has developed over the past 2,000 years with the help of strong influences from both China and Korea.
It is important to remember that the major influence was the introduction of rice from Korea around 400 B.C. and within a hundred years it had become the staple food of Japan. Rice growing techniques were passed on to the Japanese during the Yayoi period. Then migrating tribes settled in Japan. Rice was used not only for eating, but also to make paper, wine, fuel, building materials and so on. Soy beans and wheat were introduced from China soon after rice. During Japan’s development tea, chopsticks and a number of other important food related items were also introduced from China.
Korea has also greatly influenced Japan. Religion has played a great part in Japan’s cuisine development. Buddhism, despite the pre-existing Shinto and Confucian religions became the official religion of the country in the 6th century. For the next 1200 years eating of meat was prohibited. Fish was also forbidden.
Spice utilization was minimizes because of the meat lack. Pepper and cloves were known from the eighth century and were imported either via China or directly from Southeast Asia, and garlic was also grown on a small scale. But these spices were used mostly to make medicines and cosmetics.
Finally, after a ban for more than one thousand years, beef returned to Japan during the Meiji Period (1868–1912). Western foods, such as bread, coffee, and ice cream, have become popular during the late twentieth century. Another Western influence has been the introduction of timesaving cooking methods. These include the electric rice cooker, packaged foods such as instant noodles, instant miso (fermented soybean paste) soup, and instant pickling mixes. However, the Japanese are still devoted to their classic cooking traditions.
Preserving fish also became popular and sushi originated as a means of preserving fish by fermenting it in boiled rice. A unique fifteenth-century development shortened the fermentation period of sushi to one or two weeks and made both the fish and the rice edible. As a result, sushi became a popular snack food, combining fish with the traditional staple food, rice. Today, Japanese cuisine is still heavily influenced by the four seasons and geography. Seafood and vegetables are most commonly eaten. Whilst to some westerners, the food may seem almost bland, freshness, presentation and balance of flavours is of paramount importance.
In fact, many people recognize Japanese food as one of the world’s healthiest cuisines. With rice and abundant marine products at it’s mainstream, the traditional Japanese diet is impressingly low in cholestrol, fat, and calories, and high in fiber.
No wonder Japanese people have the highest longetivity rate.
So, would you like to know more about Japanese cuisine, its history and peculiarities?
Try to visit us once more…(
