1) What is traditional Japanese food? (Definition Question).

Traditional Japanese food includes rice and fish. It is food that has been eaten from hundreds and thousands of years ago, and is still eaten today by the majority of Japanese people. A typical Japanese dish that uses rice and fish is called "sushi." I shall talk about rice and its history in more detail now. Rice is a very common crop in Japan and it was first made back in the Yayoi period (300BC - AD300). Rice is and always has been the main food eaten in Japan. Rice cultivation has been central to the Japanese economy and culture. Several thousand types of rice are grown in Japan, and so there are many types of rice and lots of food surplus. Rice originated from Itazuke (Fukuoka prefecture) about 2,000 years ago. Next, I shall explain the history of how fish was important in Japan. Japan in fact has once been 1979, the largest fishing industry in the world, where the country fished 14% of the world's production (10 million tons of fish in one year). It is easy for Japan to fish because Japan is an island surrounded by many oceans and seas. The country is able to fish many different kinds of fish due to this wide range of bodies of water. The more popular fish eaten in Japan include: herrings, sardines, horse mackerels, mackerels, cod, salmon and tuna fish. Sushi in fact, originated from South China, where fish was preserved by salting and fermentation. It is still loved by people living today in Japan. Fishing was discovered in the Jomon-Period (10,000BC - 300BC), and was very popular during the Edo and Meiji Periods too.

2) What is modern Japanese food? (Definition Question).

Modern Japanese food, is food that is eaten a lot today, and is loved a lot by the Japanese people. It has a little Western influence, but isn't pure Western food. A good example of this modern type of food is "ramen." Ramen was introduced into Japan in 1958, from China and has stayed a popular dish in Japan. Ramen is Chinese noodles made mainly of wheat flour and seasoned to suit the Japanese people. The noodles are eaten with a broth seasoned with soy sauce or MISO (fermented soybean paste) and garnished with thin slices of roast pork, bean sprouts, bamboo shoots and other ingredients. Ramen shops (restaurants) are found EVERYWHERE in Japan, and nowadays you can buy cup-ramen or instant ramen, where you just have to pour boiling water on it and its is ready in 3 minutes! Many other countries are influenced by Japanese ramen, and so these countries make their own type of ramen.

3) What is Western food in Japan? (Definition Question).

Western food in Japan is food that has been copied from Europe or the United States and has been brought into Japan. A very clear example of such a food would be the hamburger. This food would be considered as bread and beef put together. I shall talk about bread and beef in more detail. You could also call these foods as being "recent & new foods." Western food today, is much more popular compared to traditional Japanese food. We can see that this is true in by looking at the measurement and broad questions that follow. It would be fair to say that Western food came about Japan around the 1960s and 1970s due to the economic growth, and in 1980s due to the internationalization.

4) What is the percentage of the amount of money a family earns per month spent on for buying beef? For buying fish? The data is taken from the average Japanese family. (Specific, Measurement Question).

The percentage of the amount of money that a family spends on buying beef per month is 8.5% of their total earnings earned per month.
The percentage of the amount of money that a family spends on buying fish per month is 11.7% of their total earnings earned per month.

5) How much money is spent on buying beef every month compared to how much money is spent on buying fish every month? (Specific, Measurement Question).

The amount of money spent on buying beef every month is 1,523 yen.
The amount of money spent on buying fish every month is 2,098 yen.

6) How much money were Japanese consumers spending on eating out at McDonald's or any other family restaurant? (Specific, Measurement Question).

In 1970, Japanese consumers were spending 100 million yen annually to eat out in restaurants.

7) How many grams of bread are consumed every month, compared to how many grams of rice are consumed every month? (Specific, Measurement Question).
8) What is the percentage of the amount of money a family earns per month spent on for buying rice? For buying bread? The data is taken from the average Japanese family. (Specific, Measurement Question).

The percentage of the amount of money that a family spends on buying rice per month is 18.2% of their total earnings earned per month.
The percentage of the amount of money that a family spends on buying bread per month is 3.1% of their total earnings earned per month.

9) How much money is spent on buying bread every year compared to how much money is spent on buying rice every year? (Specific, Measurement Question).

Year

Rice (Yen)

Bread (Yen)

1987

70177

23818

1988

64412

24217

1989

63679

25549

1990

62554

26122

1991

61831

27590

1992

62225

28084

1993

65458

28352

1994

63444

28756

1995

52852

27898

1996

49964

27960


10) How have the expenditures of rice and bread changed over time? (Specific, Measurement Question).

Annual purchases of rice per household decreased from 70,043 yen in 1980 to 49,964 yen in 1996.
Annual purchases of bread per household increased from 20,789 yen in 1980 to 27,960 yen in 1996.

11) How much money does an average household use per month to buy its food? (Specific, Measurement Question).

An average household uses about 78,947 yen or 18% of the money they earn per month on buying their food.

12) When / Why / How did Western food come to Tokyo? (Broad Question).

Over the past 30 years, consumption of rice has declined by 40%, and the consumption of MISO (fermented soybean paste) has also fallen about 40%. The demand for fish has been decreasing, while the demand for meat has been booming, especially since the market for imported beef was liberalized in 1991. The consumption of rice did once rise in the 1950s, but from then on it decreased. All of these traditional foods declined in popularity because of the Westernization. Japan had increased the consumption of bread, and as a protein source, animal food products (meat). The foundation of these changes all evolved during two and a half centuries of national isolation under the Tokugawa Shogunate (1603 - 1867). Another major reason to the change of traditional foods and the welcoming of Westernization is due to Japan's defeat in World War II. As Japan struggled to get food, the Americans helped them out by introducing the idea of drinking milk, and eating bread and meat. These foods began to appear in elementary school lunch programs and in 1971, Japan's first fast-food hamburger restaurant (known as McDonald's) opened in the Ginza district. Then followed fried chicken and pizza and soon Japan was filled with Western influence!

13) Do we want to stop this change from ruling Tokyo? If so, how would we do that? If not, explain why not. (Broad Question).

Yes, I think that we should try to stop this Westernization from changing Japan. In my opinion, Japan is an extremely beautiful place (or used to be). Why should Japan let this Western influence damage its own culture and tradition? Japanese food is very unique and should still be loved for many hundreds and thousands of years to come. Eating hamburgers, pizzas and fried chicken for most of your life is an exact copy of eating habits in America or countries in Europe. If you want to eat food like that for the rest of your life, you should go and live in those countries, but Japan shouldn't be filled with filthy fast-food restaurants because that would be hurting the country's lovely food. A way to stop this dreadful trend would be to reduce the number of fast-food restaurants in Japan. This would be an extremely hard thing to do , because so many people today are used to eating "junk food." The first obstacle would be to tackle the government. Would they let us destroy some fast-food restaurants? I don't think that any group or person will attempt to change this Westernized Japan, therefore Japan will continue to rot into a greasy hamburger country. After many centuries, the word "rice," might not even exist and children and adults will never ever hear the word. How do you feel about that? Do you still want to let Japan rot? I don't think so! I hope that somebody will stop this change, because it is crucial that Japan doesn't dissolve and lose all of its food culture. We all have to cooperate and understand what is happening to our country, or else Japan will vanish into a different country! My mother said in my interview with her, "Japan has changed so much and the fast-food restaurants have taken over Tokyo and the other major cities in Japan. It's become so Westernized! I wish that the more traditional dishes would become the main dishes of Japan, because otherwise Japanese food will become nothing but hamburgers and fries!" I could tell by what my mother was saying, that she agreed with me. She also wanted Japan to become what it used to be - a traditional country with its unique way of serving food.

QUESTIONS THAT HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED OR CHANGED

I have eliminated or have changed various types of measurement questions. These are the questions that I have eliminated and changed:

1) How many kilograms of beef are consumed each year, compared to how many kilograms of fish are consumed each year?

If I went into a shop and interviewed a member from each side (the beef side and the fish side), that would not be a good enough generalization to say that one industry is doing better than the other.

2) How do the profits of beef product restaurants, and fish product restaurants differ from each other?

I eliminated this question because I could not find a source which had such information on beef and fish industries. Even if I went into a shop and interviewed a member from each side (the beef side and the fish side), that would not be a good enough generalization to say that one industry is doing better than the other.

3) How much sushi is eaten per year compared to the amount of hamburgers that are eaten per year?
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4) How many people go to eat sushi every week, compared to how many people go to eat hamburgers every week?
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5) How many sushi-restaurants are there in Tokyo compared to the number of McDonald's?

I have distorted these questions so that they make other questions (these questions are Questions # 6, 8, 10, 11). The reason for these changes, was because I thought that it made more sense to make these new questions than to have the old ones. Just because the statistics might show that the # of people who go to eat hamburgers are larger than the # of people who go to eat sushi, doesn't mean that Japan is Westernizing. In my opinion, I think that my new questions are more accurate to tell whether Japan is Westernizing or not.


BIBLIOGRAPHY
Encyclopedias
Kono, Tomomi. "Patterns in Rice Consumption." Kodansha Encyclopedia of JAPAN. 1983 Edition.

Statistics Bureau of the Management and Coordination Agency. "Family Income and Expenditure Survey." Asahi Shimbun Japan Almanac. 1997 Edition.

Swinnerton. R.C.F. "Culture and Cuisine." JAPAN An Illustrated Encyclopedia. 1993 Edition.

Internet
Statistics Bureau Management and Coordination Agency. "Annual Report on the Family Income and Expenditure Survey." June, 1997. (http://jin.jcic.or.jp/stat/qdw/qdw17.html)

Interviews
Tanaka, Fukiko. Mother of writer. Personal Interview. Tokyo, Japan. March 8th, 1997.

Magazines
Murakami, Motoko. "Eating Is a Solitary Pastime." Japan Quarterly. April-June, 1989, 207.

Analysis - Food Research

After doing some research on Japanese food and its history, and having an interview with a parent, I have been able to spot out a few things. I see that traditional rice is still being eaten more than bread, and fish is still being eaten more than beef. Even though bread is starting to become more popular these days, rice still remains in a strong position. Rice, as you know is and always has been the traditional Japanese dish. It is used in modern dishes such as curry rice and tendon (tempura-donburi), as well as just having it as a simple dish along with your other food. According to my research, average Japanese households spend less on buying bread than they do on buying rice, which shows how much rice is still loved by the Japanese. The fish and beef battle works the same way too. Even though beef is used in fast- food restaurants and Western restaurants, fish meals are used much more. Again, the average Japanese household spends more money on buying fish than on buying beef, and I believe that this will stay this way for a long time. There is no reason for it to change all of a sudden! Why would bread and beef suddenly take over rice and fish. Hamburgers are eaten a lot by people, but so is sushi and rice. Nowadays, it's not so much of the sushi-bars (traditional style sushi restaurants) that people go into, but the more modern "kaiten-sushi." This way, people are able to enjoy eating sushi in a fun way and the reason for this is because technology has developed over the years. People have started to want not just "good food," but "fun food." This is why the "kaiten-sushi," arrived into Japan.
With all of the research and experiences that I have gone through, I have decided to say that Japan is no longer a traditional food eating society, nor is it a completely Western food eating society. Japan today is simply a society that eats modern food in modern ways and if we want to make changes, then we better make the changes soon. It is hard to say what Japanese food will be like in another century or so, because Japanese food is always changing and "flowing." I believe that Japan is or has turned modern because the Japanese people have started to want to introduce some Western foods into their country, but at the same time they still want to keep some of their traditional foods such as rice and fish. The people have realized that "pure Western food," is not what Japan needs. What Japan needs is a blended mixture of different types of food. I would say that eating traditional Japanese food all the time would be boring. What I mean by this is that if you eat nothing but traditional Japanese food, then you are not experiencing foods of other cultures. On the other hand, I would say that eating Western food all the time is no good too. It would be a "copy," of America or Western Europe and that would also make Japan boring. As I have said before, what Japan needs is a blended mixture of foods from different types of cultures. If you think of a see-saw, and relate that to this problem we have about food, then you can see that there is a connection. A person who is heavier will make the see- saw go down, so the lighter person has to kick the ground in order for the see-saw to balance again. The same thing applies for the change in the food. Many years ago, traditional food used to be heavier than the Western food, so the Western food had to kick off the ground to balance with it. Japan today, is experiencing the see-saw on its way up (Western food popularity increasing) and we are the ones that can help the see-saw balance correctly. Mass media could be another reason to why Japanese food is not stable. The media broadcast different types of food from all around the world, and the Japanese people are wanting Western culture. That is why restaurants and shops change and that is why food is being modernized today in Japan.

Cultural Conspiracy Main Page

Prepared by Hiroyuki Tanaka, from Mr. Hoover's 8th Grade social studies class on April 15th 1998.