Japanese Food History

2 history and food japanese cuisine has been influenced by the food customs of other nations but has adopted and refined them to create its own unique cooking style and eating habits.

Japanese food history. When the japanese learned to cultivate rice. The use of chopsticks and the consumption of soy sauce and soybean curd tofu also came from china. Japanese eating or kappō ja 割烹 is based on rice with miso soup and other dishes. Foods and food preparation by the early japanese neolithic settlements can be pieced together from archaeological studies and reveals paramount importance of rice and seafood since early times.

Around 2000 b c china and the korean peninsula introduced rice to japan. Japanese cuisine encompasses the regional and traditional foods of japan which have developed through centuries of political economic and social changes. The first produce of the season is prized. Restaurants in japan range from mobile food stands to centuries old ryotei atmospheric drinking places seasonally erected terraces over rivers cheap chain shops and unique theme restaurants about ninja and robots.

As an island nation it tends to go its own way. There is an emphasis on seasonal ingredients. Some entries in japan s earliest written chronicles hint at a picture of food habits from the time of the formation of the yamato dynasty. Japan has been cooking for thousands of years.

Japanese cuisine is one of only three national food traditions recognized by the un for its cultural significance last december unesco the united nation s cultural organization added traditional japanese cuisine or washoku into its intangible cultural heritage list meaning that the preservation of this way of eating is vital to the. Beyond tradition japanese food is a living part of the culture. As a result japanese food evolved into a unique culinary tradition. It s always growing and as a result there are countless japanese dishes.

The traditional cuisine of japan washoku 和食 lit. Japanese food is refined and elegant its preparation and presentation honed over the centuries so that its flavours are pure and delicate. The first foreign influence on japan was china around 300 b c. The kofun period 3rd to 7th centuries is shrouded in uncertainty.

Before that in the jomon era the japanese were still hunters and gatherers. This happened during the jomon period which stretched from 14 000 b c to 300 b c. The original inhabitants ainu were caucasian. They had long beards and very light colored hair.

The most important of these is rice which only arrived in japan at the end of the neolithic period about 2 400 years ago with immigrants that came from the mainland. History of japanese cuisine the biggest influence on japanese cuisine by far has been the introduction of rice into japanese culture.