Japanese artist Mari Miyazawa plays with her food. Like, a lot. As a parent, she sent off her kids with homemade bento lunches, that much is normal; but where Miyazawa differs from most mothers is that her bento creations are works of art. They’ve been featured in photo exhibitions and on TV shows in Japan [...]
More than sushi, okonomiyaki, or any other recognizably Japanese food, ramen is arguably the most popular food in Japan. It’s inexpensive, you can find it virtually anywhere in Japan, and everybody seems to have their own take on it. As you might have guessed from my Ramen Survival Guide, between all of the different broths, [...]
A hamburger in Japan is many things. People in the US tend to have a pretty narrow view of the food—all you really need is two buns with a beef patty in between. Maybe if you’re feeling especially adventurous, you have something more unusual, like barbecue sauce, brioche bun, or blue cheese, but that’s really [...]
Japan and vegetarianism have kind of a strange relationship. Buddhism is deeply intertwined with Japan culture and, with it, the respect for all life. The most devout Buddhists observe this reverence towards life in their diets, avoiding eating meat entirely. As we’ve covered before, there’s even a type of vegetarian cuisine meant just for Japanese [...]
When’s the last time you walked away from a movie hungry? It’s pretty rare for me. American movies about food seem to be few and far between, and the ones that are around are usually socially-conscious documentaries that bum me out more than anything. Japanese movies about food seem to do exactly the opposite. Most [...]
There’s no arguing that a lot of what we consider stereotypically Japanese actually came from elsewhere. Japan has China to thank for the Japanese language, which is also where ramen is from. Tempura, konpeito, and castella cake came by way of the Portuguese; likewise, curry was introduced by the British. The gakuran and the sailor [...]
OK, so we already had our grown-up, philosophical talk about authenticity and ethnic food earlier this week. Blah blah blah, boring. Now that it’s the weekend, we can take a more fun approach to things. That’s why today’s post is about the YouTube series “Rino which eats world various dishes” “Rino which eats world various [...]
