japanese culture

fugu

A friend was wondering out loud on Facebook, why the kanji characters for fugu (pufferfish) are 河豚. She was pondering the use of 豚, the second character, which means "pig", but the first character 河 is a mystery too, since it means river - and the fugu that we know and eat today (or get all het up about how dangerous it is, depending on where you are from) is an ocean fish.

Filed under:  japan japanese culture fugu history fish japanese language kanji
Chocolate truffles

Valentine's Day in Japan is rather different.

Filed under:  japanese culture chocolate valentine's day
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Weight loss shows on TV show cultural differences.

Filed under:  essays tv usa health and weight loss japanese culture

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Butter shortages in post-modern Japan.

Filed under:  essays ingredients japan japanese culture
Japanese kids' favorite foods ranking

What do Japanese kids like to eat? The answer may surprise you.

Filed under:  japanese japan washoku japanese culture yoshoku

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Eggs, plus the history of ranking restaurants and food in Japan.

Filed under:  eggs japan washoku writing elsewhere japanese culture food history japantimes

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The life of a remarkable man, who used his wealth to help people in many meaningful ways.

Filed under:  japan earthquake japanese culture history

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The great city of Osaka is invaded by one giant rubber duck...and a small edible one.

Filed under:  japan cool stuff from japan japanese culture osaka

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A quick update to show I'm still alive ^_^ Also some photos from Japan.

Filed under:  japan japanese culture personal

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A lot of people who come to this site or JustBento are here because they think Japanese cooking is very healthy. By and large it is, but, like any cuisine it's not 100% healthy by any means. I've been thinking about what parts of Japanese cuisine are indeed healthy, and what aren't, following up on my previous posts about sushi here and here. Here's what I have come up with.

Filed under:  essays japanese health and weight loss japanese culture thinking

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