Balance is the Key

November 8, 2016

I can confidently say that I love the food here in Japan. Probably more so than the food back home in the United States. But I might be saying this because here in Japan, I live with a host family, so all of my meals are home-cooked. Compared to the pathetic excuse I call my “cooking,” the meals here are a lot more delicious, in my opinion.

Meal times are relatively the same in both the U.S. and Japan. However, the structure and portion size are very different. Whereas in the U.S., most meals come on one giant plate, the food in Japan is presented in several small compartments or bowls. Japanese meals are fairly balanced, usually consisting of a type of meat, a lot of vegetables, a soup, and the staple bowl of white rice. For dessert, fruit and sweet breads are very common.

The etiquette is definitely stricter during Japanese meals than during mealtimes in the U.S. For example, the most notable difference is how you use your chopsticks. You cannot stick your chopsticks into a bowl of rice, nor can you pass food to others using your chopsticks, because these types of actions are typically performed at funerals. Therefore, using your chopsticks in these kinds of ways is frowned upon. In addition, there are some things you can do in Japan that you shouldn’t do in the U.S. For instance, in Japan, it is acceptable to slurp your noodles, whereas in the U.S. it is considered rude and sloppy.

Speaking of slurping noodles, my favorite food that I’ve eaten so far was a bowl of duck udon from a tiny restaurant by the Fuchinobe train station. It is so delicious. Whenever I crave udon or curry, I go to that particular restaurant. I’ve gone there so many times that the workers have recognized me.

Written By

Yvette Ortiz

Hello! My name is Yvette, and I am a fifth-year student here at Northeastern. For my final semester as an undergrad, I decided to study abroad in Tokyo, Japan. One of the main reasons I chose to go abroad was my desire to push myself out of my comfort zone, and I figured traveling alone to a foreign country where my native language is rarely used would be a pretty effective way of doing that. Aside from improving my Japanese, my main study-abroad goal is to not be afraid of making mistakes. Since I will be immersed in a completely different culture, I will receive ample opportunities to initiate conversations with native Japanese speakers. I’ll probably make tons of mistakes, but that's okay, because that's what normally happens when you're learning a foreign language while living in a foreign country.