kanna


 * Japanese Food**

My research topic is Japanese food and its status in the world. I think eating is the most important thing in our life and Japanese food has become famous in many countries nowadays. I would like to know what people in other countries think about Japanese food. Is Japanese food really popular in other countries? What are the most popular or unpopular dishes? Are there Japanese eating customs that are strange to foreigners? I believe the famous Japanese foods are //sushi// or //sashimi//, //tempura// and //sukiyaki//. Of course, most Japanese people love to eat them. However, actually, these dishes are special and are not eaten as frequently as kimchee is in Korea or bread is in America. We have more general but not so famous foods, for example, //miso//-soup (//miso// means Japanese bean paste), //yakizakana// (means broiled fish), //soba noodles//, //udon noodles,// and //shabu-shabu//. In fact, there are a lot more Japanese dishes besides these.
 * [ Introduction ]**

Photo 1: tempura Photo 2: miso-soup Source: Hage-ten Ginza HP (2006) Source: Miso-shiru-ya HP (1996)
 * [[file:tem-miso.bmp]]**

First of all, I made five questions that I wanted to ask people about Japanese food and put them in an online survey web site called Survey Monkey. Next, I posted the URL in a site called International Writing Exchange (IWE Round 52) on November 2, 2006 and I asked the members of IWE to answer it. Four of the IWE participants gave me their responses although two of them are my friends. Others include my study buddy and a teacher from Germany. In addition, I visited a community site of “japan-guide.com” which one of my friends recommended. I got seven responses from them. They are three French people, one Italian, two Swedes and one Thai. There are twelve people in all, including a person who did not answer the birthplace. I organized my data into a table and graphs.
 * [ Method ]**


 * [ Results ]

Table: Results of survey** Q1. What country are you from? Q2. Have you ever eaten Japanese food? (If you answered “No”, do you want to try?) Q3. What is your favorite Japanese food? (If you have not eaten it, what dish do you want?) Q4. What dish you do not like or do not want to try? Q5. Is there any strange thing how to eat in Japan compare to your country? Why? Are there dishes similar to Japanese food in your country?
 * 

1) What country are you from?** People in Japan, France, Italy, Germany, Sweden and Thailand cooperated with my survey.


 * 2) Graph 1: Have you ever eaten Japanese food?**

The results in Graph 1 were an unexpected result for me. I thought few people have eaten Japanese food. However, the fact is, more than 70 percent people answered “Yes”. “Other” in a pie graph means ‘If you answered “No”, do you want to try it?’ Everyone who answered “No” said they want to try Japanese food. Seeing these results, I am glad that they are interested in Japanese food. I really want them to try Japanese food someday. **
 * 3) Graph 2: What is your favorite Japanese food? (If you have not eaten it, what dish do you want to try?)

Percentage of sushi was the highest of all the choices as I expected. And //sukiyaki// and rice are same percentage. Especially, I am interested in 19% people answered they like //miso-soup//. What do foreigners think the taste of //miso-soup//? Of course, for Japanese people, the taste of it is familiar. However, for foreigners, I wonder whether they feel delicious or not. On the other hand, there are also answers like that --- //Katsudon//, //Omu-rice//, //Yakisoba//, //Ramen// and //Takoyaki//. I could not imagine these dishes. The next question is opposite of this.

**
 * 4) Graph 3: What dish you do not like or do not want to try?

The results of //natto// and //sashimi// are the same rate at 29%. There are a number Japanese who hate //natto//, as well. But //natto// is very good for your health. None of the people answered that they do not like //tsukemono//. //Tsukemono// is vegetables that are preserved in salt or rice-bran paste, and there are several kinds. It is what you might call the Japanese pickles. Even some of Japanese cannot eat it because of the peculiar taste. However, there is also //tsukemono// that goes very well with rice. I like it. But, be careful not to eat too much or it will lay heavy on your stomach!

First, most people who answered my survey think that using chopsticks is strange because they usually use a fork and knife. Therefore, it seems to be difficult for them to learn how to use them. I think so, too, because even we cannot use chopsticks properly although we learned how to use chopsticks when we were little. Next, I found that most European people, in Italy, Sweden, France, do not eat raw fish like sushi or sashimi in their own countries, but they like it. In addition, one of them, in Sweden, told me that some people do not have the guts to taste new things though they would like to try them. I hope they have a lot of chances to try new things. Finally, some of them said having lots of dishes at the same time are different from theirs. In Italy, it seems that people eat different foods in a precise order --- Firstly, main dish (for example, pasta), then secondly, they have meat or fish or cheese with vegetables. Also, it seems to be rather uncommon to eat meat and pasta together, or to eat meat before eating pasta. As I knew that, I was interested in the fact and want to know the reason.
 * 5) Is there any strange thing how to eat in Japan compared to your country? Why? Are there dishes similar to Japanese food in your country?**

This time, I could know what foreigners think about Japanese food and eating customs by researching this topic. Also, I could think more about the Japanese food culture. Again, I thought we have a lot of original dishes in Japan. First, as above, I could not predict the dishes, for example, //Katsudon//, //Omu-rice//, //Yakisoba//, //Ramen// and //Takoyaki//. I like these dishes, too, so I want foreigners to eat them. Now, I recommend them with my head held high because I could know the fact. One of the Japanese original dishes is called //Osechi,// New Year cuisine. This is a traditional holiday food of Japan. We eat it for celebrating the New Year. Basically, there are three stacked boxes and many dishes in each box. Some of the dishes have a particular meaning. For example, shrimp means a prayer for longevity because of its bent back, and herring roe means to be blessed with children. However, recently, there is not only traditional Osechi. The foreign-style dishes are coming more common, for example, roast beef and marinated salmon. Left: Top box Middle: Middle box Right: Bottom box.
 * [ Conclusion ]**

Source: Osechi-ryori Daijiten (No date) After all I finished, I found I did not know much about other countries’ foods. Then I would like to learn about that and want to try them.


 * [References]**

Hage-ten Ginza HP. (2006). USEN GROUP. Retrieved November 13, 2006 from http://www.g-gyao.jp/s/0002152185/top/ Miso-shiru-ya HP. (1996). GOURMET NAVIGATOR INC; Retrieved November 13, 2006 from http://r.gnavi.co.jp/g439808/ Osechi-ryory.com. (2006). Retrieved November 14, 2006 from http://www.osechi-ryori.com/ Osechi-ryori Daijiten. (No date). KIBUN FOODS. Retrieved November 14, 2006 from http://www.kibun.co.jp/osechi/index.html