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Inside Japan--Comments
We received the following comments on the article Inside
Japan:
In your article, you mention "baking" as a preparation technique
employed by Japanese; in fact, most Japanese until quite recently did
not have an oven at all! Baking is not a preparation method used for
fish or much of anything else in Japan. Nowadays that has changed, but
traditionally it was not so. Steaming, grilling, stewing, saute...those
are the traditional preparation methods.
Traditionally, fishmongers delivered fresh fish to people's doors, but
this is no longer true and probably has not been common for most people
for quite a long time. Until recently, fish markets were most common
and women went shopping for the day's groceries everyday. Now, like
in America, supermarkets are replacing specialty stores and women are
turning away from shopping daily but there are still specialty fish
stores and the farmers' markets held every few days include fish stands
where fresh and salt cured fish (as well as pickled) is sold. The freshness
of fish in an island country like Japan makes possible eating it raw.
Since I grew up in Ohio, I almost never ate decent fish until I moved
to Minnesota where Scandanavian descendants and their dietary preferences
created a market for fresh fish. Differences in location do impact food
selections, don't they!
Soy products are "ubiquitous" in Japanese cuisine and I suspect
consumption may be more than the 1/4 cup per day you noted. I have never
heard of "tempeh" being used in Japan until recently when
the "soy craze" that hit the West extended backwards to Japan
as well. I do not know any Japanese who eat tempeh. They do eat soy
products like shoyu (soy sauce), miso, natto, tofu, yuuba and fresh
soy beans that are steamed and salted. As you have noted, I suspect
the negative impact of soy on thyroid function is modulated by mineral
intake - particularly iodine - afforded by consumption of sea vegetables
and fish.
Within the "Japanese Foodways" text, you mention consumption
of "lobster" in several places. I question this as lobster
is "Ise Ebi" in Japanese and this is an expensive and seldom
consumed item. Perhaps "shrimp" would have been more accurate.
In addition, "funazushi" is not a shellfish; it is a fish
albeit a small one that is used to prepare this fermented food.
When your discussion of umeboshi (pickled plums), the text implies that
plums used come only from Mito Ibaraki and are famous. Those Ibaraki
plums may be famous, however the plums grow almost everywhere in Japan.
In fact, I have two trees here at the temple where I live and I make
umeboshi yearly. If I want to go for the really "famous" plums,
I buy plums from Kii Hanto which are supposed to be the best for making
big juicy umeboshi. Nowadays, young Japanese women seldom learn how
to prepare their own "tsukemono" or pickles; they just buy
them somewhere. But the traditional pickling recipes are numerous and,
although salty by western standards, offer a great method for included
lactofermented foods in the diet. In particular, "nukazuke".
Overall with regard to traditional Japanese dietary customs, I think
we can safely say that vegetables are the main item along with rice
and fish base products. I would want to note however that "poor"
Japanese cannot afford rice; traditionally the poor of past times were
left to eat millet or barley instead of rice OR very thin rice gruel
with some vegetables in it. Modern Japanese (post war) pay a huge portion
of their monthly food allowance for rice which, (it is true) they feel
they cannot do without. Nowadays, Japanese have come to love bread too
(they invented the personal bread bakery electric device) but, for most,
if they cannot eat rice for a few days, they feel something is lacking.
If we allow that rice is the "wheat" of Asia, then dietary
differences are most notably in the area of amount of fish consumed
and soy product consumption PLUS (I feel this is very important) amounts
of vegetables consumed. Compared to the typical American diet, not only
is the overall amount of vegetables consumed greater but the preparation
techniques used probably reduce nutritional loss. With the exception
of B Vitamins which are notoriously lacking due to the white rice thing,
intake of fat soluble and water soluble vitamins plus minerals probably
exceeds by far intake characteristic of traditional American diets.
Antioxidant consumption in traditional Japanese diets is considerable,
in part thanks to green tea. This is, however, changing as Japanese
turn to coffee and fried food consumption increases at the expense of
vegetable dishes. Without a question, Japanese cuisine was never intended
to be "vegetarian" and vegetable dishes are almost without
exception flavored with meat or fish and, of course, soy sauce. But,
vegetables are very important in Japanese cuisine. They are not the
side dishes that Americans relegate their vegetables to.
I should say that the overall points of your article were, without question,
correct. I really am glad to see this kind of information made available
to people. I also think it is great to use the Japanese dietary profile
to correct misconceptions about fat intake and heart disease, etc. and
to make clear to those who would promote the idea that soy is the cure-all
for osteoporosis that, indeed, Japanese women have a terribly high rate
of osteoporosis despite soy consumption. Japan is not the land of Michio
Kushi as many westerners would like to think. Thank you for bringing
such points to light.
So, if we are careful with our generalizations about Japanese food habits
and take care not to transmit mistakes in information, then I think
Americans might be able to learn from the Japanese example. That is,
providing the Japanese do not turn to western habits like MacDonalds
and Mister Donut.
Emyo Jennifer Nakayama
Japan
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