World Foods and Etiquette

The Food

Japan is a chain of islands East of China, where the people of Japan grow and eat a lot of rice. Japan started growing rice around 2000 years ago when it was discovered. Since then, rice has become part of every meal. Sushi is also a major part of Japanese food. It also includes rice, along with a combination of vegetables and sometimes fish. Similar to China, Japan uses very fresh vegetables and meat when they cook their food. Another iconic Japanese food item is sake. Sake is alcohol made from fermented rice, and it is drank unfiltered or filtered.

 

Geography and Culture in Food

Japan doesn’t have a ton of land, and it consists of mountains and a lot of un-farmable land. A solution that the Japanese adopted is terrace farming. Farmers create stairs into a hill or mountain and farm the stairs.

Something else that is important to Japan along with rice, is tea. Japan uses and drinks tea for many reasons. One major reason is in Buddhist Tea Ceremonies. Another reason is tea was one of the first drinks available in Japan, and the people of Japan continue to drink it today.

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Etiquette

Japan has some little etiquette rules, and many of the ones that are talked about relate specifically to sushi. The first being eating nigiri-sushi with one's’ hands, not with chopsticks or a fork. Nigiri is considered “finger food.” Another nigiri-etiquette is to dip the finger of nigiri fish-side down, not rice side down, as that will effect the structure of the rice. Lastly, one must also eat nigiri in one bite, and not in bites.

 

In America

In America, Japanese food is gradually becoming more popular. The main item served at a Japanese restaurant is sushi, with other common foods added in. Unlike Chinese food, most Japanese food restaurants don’t serve very Americanized food, most restaurants serve authentic Japanese cuisine.