Japanese Food: Geography and History Matter! - Essay Sample

Introduction

The historical and geographical contexts are of great importance when it comes to understanding Japanese food. Geography strongly dictates the Japanese history. The Asian continent strongly influenced the history of Japanese culture as dictated by its location. For instance, the Asian mainland is close enough to Japan hence being influenced by the Asian culture. The Japanese people ate foodstuffs modified through the relative isolation of Japan. The sources of this food were from Asia. The religious ideologies and the historical experiences form a basis of the Japanese attitudes towards food. The daily festive and ritual practices of the Japanese reinforce and reflect the attitudes towards food. Art and literature provide references allusions, moreover, the importation of foreign food elements from Europe and China fits in this mosaic. The Japanese have a rich history in the preparation and the setup of their meals and has effects on the lifestyles of communities living in this region. Ethnic cuisine play a critical role in the preservation and promotion of culture. Therefore, in this paper, I intend to analyze the role of Japanese cuisine in the promotion of culture both in East Asia and globally.

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Religion, Frugality, and Scarcity

Civil unrest periods, the fertility of the land, threats from famine, a small area and the fertility of the Japanese land, the growth of blighted typhoons, destruction of crops and peoples domiciles through fires have affected the food lifestyle of the Japanese (Fenton, et al., 1993). Two great religions of the Japanese have affected the attitudes towards foods. Buddhism and Shinto are the two major religions that the Japanese follow. Food offerings and ideas of purity affect the effects of the choice of food for the Japanese (Fenton, et al., 1993). Reluctance and simplicity of life are the two main ideas which affect the choice of food for the Buddhists. Shinto is complemented by Buddhism. All the Japanese shares these religious orientations hence affecting their food realm. For instance, the Shinto myths denote that the natural cycle of decay and death which each person should follow and remember food forms part of it (Fenton, et al., 1993). Therefore, there is a need for one to follow and remember this myth. The gods of the food need to receive sacrifices from the Shinto believers. The idea of simplicity is shared by both Buddhism and the Shintos.

Presentation of Japanese Food

Visual orientation is one of the important parts of the Japanese food presentation. For instance, both the taste of food and the visual appeal is expected during a dinner. The presentation of the Japanese food aesthetically attracts ones attention. For instance, the classical Japanese cuisine work of art is framed in a particular design (Kawasumi, 2002). The first injunction of a Japanese cook is "feed the eye first". The artistry in Japan is not limited to the outdoor gardens, table arrangements or interior or exterior architecture of main rooms or venues. However, the visual appeal of a bouquet might be bewildering to the uninitiated. For instance, the geometric shapes of plates such as fan-shaped and in many colors, textures, sizes, and colors decorate the table.

Garnishes, decoration, glaze, and shape of the plate are a visual clue that plays a critical role in the arrangement of food. The events or seasons dictate the garnishes and foods based on shapes and color. In ancient days, the printing of consuming labels was not a requirement. However, the green bamboo leaves were placed on lunch boxes to indicate freshness (Ashkenazi, Michael, and Jeanne, 2000). However, if the leaves turn brown it meant that the food wasn't fresh. The evergreen plastic strips have replaced the fresh bamboos as it is hard to preserve the use of this tradition in modern Japan (Kawasumi, 2002). There are formally recognizable patterns which are in different numbers. For instance, the visibility of items from a vantage point forms one of the rules, for example, something should always be hidden. The other rule is that food should always reflect the seasons, for instance, pinks (spring), whites (winter), gold and reds (autumn).

The colors play an important role in Japanese life, an important reflection in their food. Stabilizing or preserving the ingredients natural color is significant in the cooking practices of the Japanese (Ashkenazi, Michael, and Jeanne, 2000). Gold and red also represent felicitous events which include weddings, blank and silver represent mourning. Therefore, the Japanese avoid combining black and silver. Through symbolic reference, certain foods are added to the dish other than the flavors. For example, there are more than twenty words in Japanese that describe the crispness of the food. For instance, shakishaki describes vegetables or fruit crispness such as fresh carrots and water-chestnuts while karikari for vegetables that yield and chewy reluctantly to the teeth pressure.

Japanese Sushi

Seasoned rice in Japanese is referred to as seasoned rice. This type of Japanese cuisine consists of a combination of various fillings, toppings and acidified rice with a combination of other ingredients and raw fish (Ashkenazi, Michael, and Jeanne, 2000). The body becomes nourished, a delight for the eyes and enrichment of the brain through the sushi food. The chemical composition, taste, raw ingredients quality, physical texture, inseparable entities, and aesthetic presentation makes sushi healthy food. The preparation of this type of food takes into consideration the pleasure of artistry preparations. Wellness, science, and passion encompass sushi.

Origin of Sushi

It is believed that the origin of this type of Japanese cuisine from South Asia during the second century from the fermented meat or fish for preservation purposes. Several years later, the formation process was sped up through the use of rice. The reduction of the preparation time in the sixteenth century was through the use of vinegar. It is during this century that this type of sushi becomes a delicacy in Japan as it was more preferred than the original one. The combination of rice with raw fish first emerged in Japan in early 1880, as slices of raw fish known as sashimi had been consumed in Japan for many centuries (Kawasumi, 2002). The widely known sushi in the modern world is the combination of raw fish with acidified rice. The expansion of Japanese business in the US led to the introduction of sushi in North America in the 1970s.

Types of Sushi

There are two main types of sushi; they include make sushi and nigiri sushi. This type of Japanese cuisine is sold in Burnaby. The literal meaning of nigiri is "hand-pressed. Nigiri sushi is oval shaped acidified ice which is small in size with other ingredients and slices of raw fish with toppings which are firmly placed. Maki sushi is a roll in a cylindrical shape consisting of vegetables, meat, and seafood and acidified rice (Ashkenazi, Michael, and Jeanne, 2000).

Effects of Production and Consumption Sushi on Communities’ Lifestyle

East Asia has been supplied with the Japanese culture through the importation of sushi into this region. Beyond the thriving sushi restaurants in East Asia, the Japanese message and identity have been transformed as a globally accepted and modern eat out, despite it old-fashioned and traditional food back in its home of origin (Parasecoli, 2014). Cultural propaganda and soft power effects are the major effects that the Japanese sushi culture exhibits in East Asia and the rest of the world. The cooking techniques, lifestyle, culture and the ideologies of the Japanese have also been exported to the rest of the region. The Japanese sushi culture as cultural propaganda has become a minor victim of the cultural message and systematic loss of authenticity. The achievement of cultural propaganda is necessitated by the cultural heritage immersed in the consumption and production of sushi. The use and acquisition of the use of soft power it's among the approaches used by the Japanese government believe in when it comes to its ambitions of achieving international goals. The Japanese government safeguards the sushi culture both in Japan and the rest of the world through consumers safeguard from bad food experiences (Parasecoli, 2014). The communities have ended up adopting the domestic lifestyles of the Japanese through the business styles and the consumption of sushi. The East Asia community has integrated some parts of Japan into itself.

Conclusion

Many countries have been introduced to this Japanese cuisine after the advent of globalization. For instance, in the modern world, Sushi has become popular across various continents. The past decades have seen the emergence of conversations on food citizenship and food justice. These conversations have sparkled responses based on the gaps left by the absence of responses from institutions on health problems which are related to the diet, food system, affordability of food and adequate access. Therefore, food has become a cultural marker and promoter through the multicultural landscape of the world.

References

Ashkenazi, Michael, and Jeanne J. (2000). The Essence of Japanese Cuisine: An Essay on Food and Culture. Richmond: Curzon Press.

Fenton, J., HYPERLINK "https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=dp_byline_sr_book_2?ie=UTF8&field-author=Norvin+Hein&search-alias=books&text=Norvin+Hein&sort=relevancerank" Norvin Hein, Frank E. Reynolds , Alan L. Miller, Niels C. Nielsen, Grace G. Burford, (1993). Religions of Asia, Bedford/St. Martin's; Third Edition edition.

Kawasumi, K. (2002). The Encyclopedia of Sushi Rolls. Collection of how-tos and basic information about the making of sushi rolls. Japan Publications Trading Co.

Parasecoli, F. (2014). Food, Identity, and Cultural Reproduction in Immigrant Communities. Social Research, 81(2): 415-439.