Japan

Map•  Japanisanarchipelago(chainofislands)madeupofabout3,000islands.

•  SurroundingCountries:•  Russia,China,NorthKorea,SouthKorea

•  CiAes:•  Tokyo(capital)

•  Size:•  145,936squaremiles

PopulationandCurrency•  PopulaAon:127.3million•  Language:Japanese(withseveralotherlanguages)•  EthnicGroups:•  Japanese(98.5%)•  ChineseandKorean(0.9%)

•  Currency:Yen

PopulationandCurrency•  ReligiousGroups:•  Shinto(57%)isasoldastheJapaneseculture•  Buddhism(35%)wasimportedfromthemainlandinthe6thcentury.

•  Thereligionsco-exisAngharmoniouslyandcomplementeachothertoacertaindegree.MostJapaneseconsiderthemselvesBuddhist,Shintoistorboth

Geography•  Japanismadeupofover3,000islands,makingseafoodwidelyavailable

•  8percentofallthefishcaughtintheworld

•  EachpersoninJapaneatsmorethan150poundsoffishperyear,oraroundthreepoundsoffishperweek

•  Hokkaido,innorthernJapan,producesmostoftheseafoodconsumedinJapan,aswellasawidevarietyofvegetables.

•  Tokyoanditssurroundingareaarefamousfornigirisushi,seafood,andsoybean(edamame)products.

Geography•  About60-70%istoomountainous,soalmostallthepeopleliveinciAes,mostofwhichwerebuiltonthecountry'sflatland(plainsarea).

•  SouthernKyushugrowsawidevarietyofvegetablesandfruit,includingonions,strawberries,andshiitakemushrooms.

•  Inthericebelt(EchigoPlain),mountainvegetablesandmaitakemushroomsarealsoproduced;buckwheatsobanoodlesandhot-potsusinglocalseafoodarepopular.

•  Kansai,inthewest,producesvegetables,fruit,rice,andKobebeef;sukiyakiandudonnoodlesarespecialAes.

Geography/Climate•  JapanislocatedinaregionwhereseveralconAnentalplatesmeet:

•  Frequentearthquakes•  Manyvolcanos

•  Thecountryalsoexperiencestyphoons(hugestormsoriginaAngovertheocean)

Climate•  Climateisgoodforfarming,ricebeingthechiefcrop

•  TheclimateinmostofthemajorciAesistemperatetosubtropicalandconsistsoffourseasons

•  Winteriscoolandmild

•  Summerishotandhumid•  Rainyseasoninearlysummer

•  Widevarietyofvegetables/fruitscanbegrown,reflecAngJapan’sseasonsandclimatechanges

•  DuetothelargelengthoftheJapan,theclimatevariesstronglyindifferentregions

•  TheclimateofthenorthernislandofHokkaidoandtheSeaofJapancoastiscolder,andsnowfallsinlargeamountsduringwinter

•  InOkinawatheclimateremainswarmthroughoutthewinter

Agriculture•  AbouthalfofJapan'sarableland(landabletobefarmed)isdevotedtogrowingrice.•  Somemountainousareashavebeenterraced(hadstep-likeareascutintothem)toallowfarmerstogrowriceandothercrops.

•  SoybeansareamajoragriculturalproductofJapan.

Agriculture•  “Wagyubeefcakle”areraisedtobehealthyanimalsinwell-venAlatedbarnsspreadwithsawdust.TheyarefedwithamixtureofhayandhighlynutriAous,safecompoundfeeds.FarmerswhobreedwagyucakleraisethemwithcarefulakenAontodetail.“Wagyu”referstoanycaklethatisbredinJapanortheJapanese-style.KobebeefiscomprisedofaveryparAcularstrainofWagyucalledTajima-Gyuthatisraisedtostrictstandards.

Culture•  Japan’scloseneighbors,ChinaandKorea,haveplayedmajorrolesinitsculturethroughbothtradeandreligion.•  ChinataughttheJapanesetoculAvaterice

•  UseofchopsAcksandtheconsumpAonofsoysauceandsoybeancurd(tofu)alsocamefromChina

•  IntheA.D.700s,theriseofBuddhismledtoabanoneaAngmeat•  Sushi(rawfishwithrice)•  Vegetarianfoods

•  BeefreturnedtoJapanduringtheMeijiPeriod(1868–1912)

Culture•  Westernfoods,suchasbread,coffee,andicecream,becomepopularduringthelate1900

•  WesterninfluencehasintroducedAmesavingcookingmethods:

•  Electricricecooker•  Packagedfoodssuchasinstantnoodles,instantmiso(fermentedsoybeanpaste)soup,andinstantpicklingmixes

•  JapanesearesAlldevotedtotheirclassiccookingtradiAons

Culture•  MostimportantholidayisNewYears(Shogatsu)

•  Specialholidayfoods,calledosechi,arepreparedinbeauAfullydecoratedstackableboxes-eachlayerhascompartmentsforseveraldifferentfoods.

•  Glazedsardines,bambooshoots,sweetblackbeans,andchestnutsinsweetpotatopastearejustafewofthemanyholidayfoods.

•  NewYearfoodsareeatenbecausetheyrepresentgoodfortuneorlonglife

Culture•  Theteaceremony(chanoyu)isanimportantJapaneseritualthatcanbeheldonaholidayorotherspecialoccasion.Developedoverseveralcenturies,itplaysanimportantroleinJapaneselifeandculture.

•  GreenteaisthenaAonalbeverageofJapan,althoughblackteaisalsoavailable.

Activity–Chopsticks!•  ChopsAcksareusedtoeatmostfoods.Rules:•  HoldyourchopsAckstowardstheirend,notinthemiddleorthefrontthird.

•  WhenyouarenotusingyourchopsAcks,orhavefinishedeaAng,laythemdowninfrontofyouwiththeApstolep.DonotsAckchopsAcksintoyourfood,especiallynotintorice.Thisisonlydoneatfuneralswithricethatisputontothealtar.

•  DonotpassfooddirectlyfromyoursetofchopsAckstoanother's.Again,thisisafuneraltradiAonthatinvolvesthebonesofacrematedbody.

•  DonotspearfoodwithyourchopsAcks.•  Donotpoint/wavewithyourchopsAcks.•  IfyouhavealreadyeatenwithyourchopsAcks,usetheoppositeendtotakefoodfromasharedplate.

•  KnivesandforksareusedforWesternfoodonly.Spoonshowever,maybeusedwithcertainJapanesedishessuchasdonburiorJapanesestylecurryrice.

MealtimeCustoms•  PrioriAzequalityoverquanAtyintheirfood,prizingeachingredientindividually–usuallyfreshingredientspreferred

•  Visualappealisasimportantasthefooditself,sopreparaAonandpresentaAonaremeAculous

•  RiceandnoodlesarethetwomealAmestaples•  Riceisservedateverymeal•  NoodlescomeinmanyvarieAes

•  Soba,thinbrownnoodlesmadefrombuckwheatflour

•  Udon,thickwhitenoodlesmadefromwheatflour

•  Ramen,thin,curlynoodles,alsomadefromwheatflour

MealtimeCustoms•  SoysauceandothersoybeanproductsarealsostaplesinJapan•  Miso(fermentedsoybeanpaste)

•  Tofu(asoybeancurdthatresemblescustard).

•  OthercommoningredientsinJapanesefoodincludebambooshoots,daikon,ginger,seaweed,andsesameseedproducts.

•  Sake,winemadefromrice,andbeerarealsoverypopular

MealtimeCustoms•  TwouniquelyJapanesefoods:•  Sushi(freshrawseafoodwithrice)•  Sashimi(freshrawseafoodwithsoysauce)

•  Bothrelyonfreshlycaughtfishorseafood.

•  Dishespreparedinasinglepot(nabemeno)arepopularthroughoutJapan.

•  ThepeopleofJapanlivelonglivesandhavealowrateofheartdiseasebecauseofhealthyeaAnghabits.

•  TheJapaneseeatthreemainmealsaday

•  TheJapanesedonoteatwhiletheyaredoingotherthings

MealtimeCustoms•  Si,ngtechniques•  SiqnguprightontheflooriscommoninmanysituaAons

•  MealsaretradiAonallyheldonatatamiflooraroundalowtable

•  Siqngonthefloorisalsocustomaryduringtheteaceremony(chanoyu)

•  Shoesandslippershavetoberemovedbeforesteppingontatami

•  Theformalwayofsiqngforbothgendersiskneeling(seiza)•  IncasualsituaAons,menusuallysitcross-legged,whilewomenwithbothlegstooneside.

women(casual) seiza(formal) men(casual)

Menu-Breakfast•  Mealseatenearlyinthedaytendtobethesimplest.

•  Atypicalbreakfastconsistsofrice,misosoup,andasidedish,suchasaneggorgrilledfish.

•  MisosoupisasoupconsisAngofastockcalled"dashi"intowhichsopenedmisopaste(fermentedsoybeans)ismixed.Manyingredientsareaddeddependingonregionalandseasonalrecipes,andpersonalpreference.

Menu-Lunch•  Noodlesareverypopularforlunch(andasasnack)

•  Atypicallunchwouldbeabowlofbrothwithvegetables,seaweed,orfish.

•  ThebentoisatradiAonalboxlunchpackedinasmall,flatboxwithdividers.ItincludessmallporAonsofrice,meat,fish,andvegetables.

•  Afavoriteamongyoungpeopleisastuffedriceballcalledonigiri.

Menu-Dinner•  Sukiyakiisadishmadeupofpaper-thinslicesofbeef,vegetables,andcubesoftofucookedinbroth.

•  Shabu-shabuisbeefandvegetables,alsocookedinbrothbutthendippedinflavorfulsauces.

Menu-Dessert•  Seasonalfreshfruitmakesagreatdessert.

•  Sweetsaremorelikelytobeservedwithgreenteaintheapernoon.

•  CastellaisapopularJapanesespongecakemadeofsugar,flour,eggs,andstarchsyrup.

•  Sataandagiaresweetdeepfriedbunsofdoughsimilartodoughnuts

•  hkp://www.foodbycountry.com/Germany-to-Japan/Japan.html

•  hkps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Japan•  hkp://www.japan-guide.com/e/e629.html

•  hkp://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2039.html

•  hkp://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2006.html

•  hkp://www.japan-guide.com/list/e1000.html•  hkp://www.visualgeography.com/

•  hkp://www.hktdc.com/web/featured_suppliers/japan_food/en/index.html