Japan: Food in Japan

While in Japan, I was able to try a variety of foods. I tried taiyaki, takoyaki, konpeito, and so much more. Taiyaki is a fish shaped sweet with some kind of filling. The filling varies but in the taiyaki I had, it had a filling like Boston cream donuts. Takoyaki was an interesting way to eat octopus. It is a very common snack in Japan and it’s hot inside is full of surprising flavor. Konpeito is like a rock candy in Japan. It is sweet and easy to eat as well. In comparison to American rock candy, I prefer the rock candy in Japan. Rather than being on a stick and cutting into your gums, Japanese rock candy is easier to eat. They are already in bite-sized pieces. I was able to eat candied plums as well. The treat was too sweet unfortunately but I can understand how people in Japan favor sweet foods. I had the option to eat ichigo ame but I preferred to eat something more foreign. I enjoyed trying the new fruit despite the taste that was too sweet.

In Japan, a common treat is shaved ice and shaved milk. I was fortunate enough to taste both cool treats. The shaved ice is like a snow cone but they allow the customer to add the syrup flavors. The shaved milk flavors were strawberry and sakura (cherry blossom). I purchased the strawberry shaved milk and would definitely recommend it. The treat was light and fluffy and had an extremely soft but sweet flavor.

The main difference in the foods I noticed were that they were made fresh. Even the McDonald’s in Japan had a fresher taste. Most of the food options there had a sweet, light taste. In comparison, food in America has a heavy, syrup-like taste. Also, the dishes in America have a lot of red meat whereas Japanese dishes are seafood focused.

In terms of dining mannerisms, the Japanese are very polite and have interesting customs. They think about the business but and not trying to cheat the customers. In the fish market, there were many samples out. They did not harass anyone by listing off all of the possible "deals" they could purchase. They simply told us what we were eating. If someone wanted to purchase the food, they would bag it up or prepare it and wait for the next customer.

Most of the foods offered in Japan were seafood based, or fruit based. Other popular flavors included matcha, a type of green tea, and red bean. I never realized how many different ways there are to prepare seafood. There were many raw meals put on ice outside that people seemed to enjoy. However, there were a lot of vendors who had grills and would grill kabobs with seasoned tuna chunks on them. Some vendors would fry crab meat or prepare octopus legs. There was such a huge variety of foods offered in Japan. I look forward to returning and trying more delicious foods.