Japanese Cuisine

Japanese Cuisine

Japan was an agricultural nation for thousands of years until after the war. Houses were traditionally constructed mostly of wood, so wood was, and still is, a very valuable resource. With few other fuel resources, the Japanese had to find various ways of appreciating both their agricultural produce and the plentiful supply of fish caught in the surrounding seas without burning lots of wood and charcoal. Consequently, the Japanese developed ways of eating raw or near raw food.

In Japan, eating raw fish is considered the best, if not the only, way to appreciate the real flavor of fish, and sashimi (prepared raw fish) has pride of place in a Japanese meal. Fish for sashimi must be really fresh, refrigerated until ready to use and handled as little as possible. Another Japanese specialty is sushi, based on boiled rice, flavored with a rice vinegar mixture while warm, then fanned to cool it quickly and give it a glossy sheen. There is wide variety of sushi, such as sushi rolls made with vegetables or fish enclosed in sushi rice, wrapped in nori seaweed, then rolled up and sliced.

Due to Shintoism, the ancient mythological religion, and later Buddhism, which was introduced from China, the Japanese remained a non-carnivorous nation until the opening up of the country to western influences towards the end of the nineteenth century. Today, despite Japan’s economic growth and the pressure from overseas governments to open up the domestic market, Japan is still largely a nation of fish and vegetable eaters. When meat is used, it is sliced thickly and normally cooked with vegetables. As a result, Japanese cooking is naturally healthy without even trying to be so.