5 ms·

I get white rice as a status symbol, but I don't get white rice and white rice only. Why no meat, fish or legumes, even for the emperor?

nicholas73 9y ago
I know one Japanese guy who strongly prefers eating mostly rice. Surely it's not a status thing any more. It wouldn't surprise me if there was a non-cultural cause for this.
tomc1985 9y ago
When a mind that has no business thinking about some thing starts coming up with ideas for it, you get lots of half-baked little gems like this.
sdrothrock 9y ago
> I get white rice as a status symbol, but I don't get white rice and white rice only. White rice has traditionally been seen as the "main dish" of a meal. Many people, even younger people in their 20s, follow this line of thinking. Here are a few facts in no particular order: 1. Rice is placed on the left of a set meal (https://i.imgur.com/n29o2Dh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/n29o2Dh.jpg), with miso soup on the right. Traditionally, the left side is the "higher" position. 2. In a set meal, everything that's not rice is generally referred to as "okazu," or "side dish." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okazu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okazu) 3. A meal consisting of a bowl of rice with some kind of flavored salty flakes (furikake, https://i.imgur.com/hDAqndf.jpg https://i.imgur.com/hDAqndf.jpg) is considered a perfectly complete meal. 4. You ask "why no meat . . . even for the emperor" -- this is sort of a cultural blind spot for foreigners, I think. We think "oh man, meat, this is an honor!", but for a long time in Japan, meat was not only difficult to obtain, but was also seen as unclean in some ways (https://www.kikkoman.co.jp/kiifc/foodculture/pdf_09/e_002_008.pdf https://www.kikkoman.co.jp/kiifc/foodculture/pdf_09/e_002_00...). 4a. Butchers, for example, were of the untouchable (burakumin, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burakumin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burakumin) class for dealing with slaughter. This perception even exists today, to some extent, especially in wealthy families. Anecdotally, there is even a continuing modern perception of meat as "unhealthy" and "a sometime treat," even among younger people (say, in their 20s). People laugh at me for eating ~100-200g of chicken, pork, or beef per day and often point to that as the cause of my being overweight, seriously suggesting that I should instead eat 100-200 grams more of white rice per day.

nicholas73 9y ago

I know one Japanese guy who strongly prefers eating mostly rice. Surely it's not a status thing any more. It wouldn't surprise me if there was a non-cultural cause for this.

tomc1985 9y ago

When a mind that has no business thinking about some thing starts coming up with ideas for it, you get lots of half-baked little gems like this.

sdrothrock 9y ago

> I get white rice as a status symbol, but I don't get white rice and white rice only. White rice has traditionally been seen as the "main dish" of a meal. Many people, even younger people in their 20s, follow this line of thinking. Here are a few facts in no particular order: 1. Rice is placed on the left of a set meal (https://i.imgur.com/n29o2Dh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/n29o2Dh.jpg), with miso soup on the right. Traditionally, the left side is the "higher" position. 2. In a set meal, everything that's not rice is generally referred to as "okazu," or "side dish." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okazu https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Okazu) 3. A meal consisting of a bowl of rice with some kind of flavored salty flakes (furikake, https://i.imgur.com/hDAqndf.jpg https://i.imgur.com/hDAqndf.jpg) is considered a perfectly complete meal. 4. You ask "why no meat . . . even for the emperor" -- this is sort of a cultural blind spot for foreigners, I think. We think "oh man, meat, this is an honor!", but for a long time in Japan, meat was not only difficult to obtain, but was also seen as unclean in some ways (https://www.kikkoman.co.jp/kiifc/foodculture/pdf_09/e_002_008.pdf https://www.kikkoman.co.jp/kiifc/foodculture/pdf_09/e_002_00...). 4a. Butchers, for example, were of the untouchable (burakumin, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burakumin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burakumin) class for dealing with slaughter. This perception even exists today, to some extent, especially in wealthy families. Anecdotally, there is even a continuing modern perception of meat as "unhealthy" and "a sometime treat," even among younger people (say, in their 20s). People laugh at me for eating ~100-200g of chicken, pork, or beef per day and often point to that as the cause of my being overweight, seriously suggesting that I should instead eat 100-200 grams more of white rice per day.