10 Things You Should Know About Japanese Food

Food is very serious business in Japan.

Though I spend a lot of time thinking about the things I eat, I was still blown away by how much thought goes into the preparation, consumption, and appreciation of Japanese food. There is a level of obsession with food in Japan that I’ve never seen anywhere else.

If you love to eat and enjoy exploring food, culture, and culinary traditions, Japan should be at the top of your world travel bucket list.

Here are some things you should know about Japanese food:

1. 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 survival of the traditional culture. It was only the second national traditional cuisine honored as such, after French food. (Mexican cuisine has recently joined the list.)

Japanese Food: UNESCO recognized cultural heritage

2. Japanese food is prepared carefully using seasonal ingredients and flavors

Japanese food is as much about the preparation and presentation as it is the food itself. A great deal of thought goes into every item served. While we think of only four annual seasons, Japanese chefs consider dozens of seasons and carefully select ingredients that are in their prime with flavors that represent that specific period. Because we visited in the very early spring (beginning of March) every meal that we tried included bitter components which is a typical flavor for this season. Tasting these flavors, connects Japanese eaters with years past.

Once finished, the food is carefully plated and the finished dish often looks like a work of art.

Japanese Food: Seasonal Ingredients and Careful Presentation

3. Simplicity is key

Courses include a few small items, often fresh and with simple flavors. Japanese chefs work with top quality ingredients and do as little to the food as possible to bring out the color and flavor.

Japanese Food: Simplicity

4. Infrequent use of garlic, chile peppers, and oil

Many foods are seared, boiled or eaten raw and minimally seasoned. Umami (a rich flavor profile characteristic of Japanese food) is enhanced by using just a few ingredients including miso, soy sauce, mushrooms, seaweed, bonito flakes, and bonito broth. When foods are fried (like tempura) the batter is thin and absorbs very little oil.

Japanese Food: Simple Flavors

5. Condiments add diversity

To add contrast to the food, simple condiments are often added to enhance the flavors. Light dipping sauces, citrus, miso, wasabi, pickles, and soy sauce may be included with the course.

Japanese Food: Diverse Condiments

6. It doesn’t look like a lot of food but it is!

Though the individual servings are small, traditional Japanese meals (called kaiseki) include several courses which add up to a lot of food. You will fill up.

Japanese Food: Many courses and a lot of food!

7. The choice of dishes is important

While Western cultures tend to appreciate matching dishware, Japanese cooks tend to use dishes with a variety of colorful patterns, shapes and colors. The specific choice of dishes is important and seasonal. Fine restaurants will often use antique ceramics and lacquerware. When your server brings you a course, after asking what the food is, it is expected that you will also ask them to tell you about the dishes. The hand-painted bowl below (from a restaurant in Kyoto) was over 200 years old! It was selected because the leafy pattern represents the early spring season during which we visited, and it also provides a contrast between the old and the new green shoots of spring.

Japanese Food: Importance of seasonal dishes

8. Tokyo has some of the best restaurants in the world

With 14 Michelin three-star restaurants, Tokyo has more top-rated restaurants than any other city, surpassing even Paris.

Japanese Food: Tokyo has some of the best restaurants in the world

9. Traditional restaurants don’t have low-wage “wait staff”

Apprentice chefs sometimes work in restaurants for ten years before they are allowed to handle the fish or meat. During that time they bus tables, serve meals, and do manual tasks like making rice. Still, these apprentices earn decent wages and it is considered an insult to tip them.

Japanese Food: No "wait staff" only apprentice chefs

Hamming it up with the chef at Kyoto’s Kiyojirou restaurant.

10. The seafood industry is HUGE!

As seafood is a major part of the Japanese diet, the seafood fishing and import industry in Japan is staggering. Tsukiji Market in Tokyo is the world’s largest wholesale markets for fresh, frozen, and processed seafood and sells over 700,000 tons of seafood each year. In this photo below, this massive market complex takes up all of the low-rise buildings in the foreground (lower 2/3 of the photo). And this is just one of 12 wholesale fish markets in Tokyo alone!