Coming up on my 2 month mark for living in Japan, I’ve begun what some may call some small culture shock with food. While living in America, my response to anyone when they would ask me what my favorite type of food is was always Japanese food. How do I feel now? Like I would easily trade my daily kyuushoku (給食) for some Mexican tacos, or some good old rice and beans. It has been interesting becoming used to my life in a small town on this side of the world, as it is very different from life in a big American city.
In my observation of Japanese food the past couple of months, I’ve noticed how prevalent seafood is. My daily kyuushoku, for example, will seemingly always have at least a bit of the sea making its way onto my tray and bowl. White rice is a daily staple, as are soups in some form. Comparing this to meals in the United States and more specifically Utah (the state I am from), there were no daily staples. In America, the most consistent elements between meals were variety and change.
The consistency of these foods in Japanese cuisine isn’t a bad thing, however, and I find myself satisfied with the healthiness of my meals much more often than I did in America where I felt “skinny on the outside, overweight on the inside”. This sudden change to my diet suddenly incorporating so many different foods I had never heard of before may be difficult, but I am interested in seeing how my tastes change during my time in Yosano and Japan.