Japanese

FROM Japanese

Washoku

 

和食.jpg

Eat seasonally.  Bamboo shoots in spring, bonito in summer, matsutake mushrooms in autumn, adult yellowtail in winter – the Japanese people have special traditions associated with feasting and eating natural food.  The dietary culture to enjoy the flavors and tastes of the ingredients by making the best use of freshness in cuisine has been nourished in Japan which is blessed with a rich natural environment that includes seas, mountains, villages and a variety of foods grown in the Japanese archipelago running from north to south.

 

In December 2013, the special food tradition cultivated in Japan, “washoku: traditional dietary cultures of the Japanese,” was registered as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage.  Japanese cuisine is based on a “respect for nature,” and Japan’s “special tradition concerning foods” is recognized globally as a tradition to be safeguarded and transmitted on to future generations.

 

In Article 2 (Definitions) of the Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage, we can find the following description: “For the purposes of this Convention, consideration will be given solely to such intangible cultural heritage as is compatible with… the requirements of…sustainable development.”  The respect for nature, the base of washoku, can also be found in the distinguished preservation techniques of foods such as dried foods and Japanese pickles.  In Japanese cuisine, foods are a blessing of nature, and such techniques are used to cleverly use up the ingredients.  This means the spirit of mottainai might contribute to sustainable development.

 

The key of washoku taste is in seasonings that can extract the instinctive daintiness of the ingredients.  Seasonings such as dashi soup made from boiling dried bonito shavings or edible dried kelps, soy sauce and miso soybean paste produced by fermenting soybeans with salt and fungi, and saké or rice vinegars produced by fermented rice are essential for Japanese cuisine.  These seasonings with umami or savory taste, are brought by the fungus, Aspergillus oryzae (kōjikin, kōji fungus, 麹菌).  About 1000 years ago, Japanese people succeeded in extracting the kōji fungus.  The kōji fungus has been preserved and cultured as a fungus living only in each miso or saké brewery, and has contributed to making the original and unique taste of each miso or saké.  In other words, the umami of washoku is brought by the rich biodiversity that the people in Japan have preserved.

 

Washoku is basically served with a cup of rice, a cup of soup and three kinds of dishes (a main dish and two side dishes).  We can take carbohydrates acting as an energy source from rice, water from soup, and other nutrients from the three dishes.  The well balanced nutrients are mixed in the stomach, and digestion and absorption are stimulated.  Recently, washoku is attracting attention from foreign countries as a healthy and anti-fat diet.

 

The healthy diet and rich lifestyles in Japan are supported by washoku that cherishes the blessings of nature.  The “Wa (和)” of washoku (和食) means “Japan” and at the same time, it also means “harmony.”  Washoku softens people’s hearts when eating, deepens family ties, and promotes harmony among people of diverse communities as a representative culture of Japan. 

 

(Yuri Hoshiba)

Japanese