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Food in General
Food, of all types and from
every country under the sun, is one of the great pleasures
of life in Japan. Not only has Japan developed one of
the world's great cuisines, which offers palate-tickling
sensations that range from the subtle joys of Sashimi
to the hearty basics of its noodles, but some of the best
chefs have come to Japan to cook for its discriminating
gourmets. Tokyo especially, as befits its status as a
global capital of finance and business, is host to a lipsmacking
cornucopia of flavors and textures of food. |
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To begin scratching
the surface of Japan's vast selection of food, take a
walk in the vicinity of any subway or train station. The
eating and drinking estabishments that congregate here
are sure to represent a plethora of domestic cooking,
with prices generally quite reasonable.
For non-Japanese speakers, most restaurants display plastic
and wax replicas of their dishes in their front windows.
When language fails, just guide your waitress outside
and point at an appetizing selection. |
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Another good place to find reasonably
priced meals is in larger department stores, which will
often devote an entire upper or basement floor to different
restaurants. Some modestly priced restaurants ask patrons
to purchase tickets for each dish, either from the cashier's
counter or a vending machine. Tipping is not practiced
in Japan.
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Japanese Cuisine
Once known in the west
either in the form of Sukiyaki or the more exotic
Sushi, Japanese cuisine has in recent years become
much more familiar and appreciated around the world.
Many visitors to Japan will have already sampled
the pleasures of raw fish or batter-fried shrimp.
But few first-time visitors to Japan are prepared
for the variety and sumptuousness of food as it's
traditionally prepared here. Eating in Japan is
an experience to be enjoyed and remembered fondly
for the rest of your life.
Among the types of cooking found in Japan are:
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Sukiyaki
is prepared at the table by cooking thinly
sliced beef together with various vegetables,
tofu and vermicelli. |
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Tempura
is food deep-fried in vegetable oil, after
being coated with a mixture of egg, water
and wheat flour. Among the ingredients used
are prawns, fish in season and vegetables. |
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Sushi
is a small piece of raw seafood placed on
a ball of vinegared rice. The most common
ingredients are tuna, squid and prawn. Cucumber,
pickled radish and sweet egg omelette are
also served. |
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Sashimi
is raw fish eaten with soy sauce. |
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Kaiseki
Ryori is regarded as the most exquisite culinary
refinement in Japan. The dishes are mainly
composed of vegetables and fish with seaweed
and mushrooms as seasoning base and are characterized
by their refined savor. |
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Yakitori
is a small piece of chicken meat, liver and
vegetables skewered on a bamboo stick and
grilled over a fire. |
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Tonkatsu
is a deep-fried pork cutlet rolled in bread
crumbs. |
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Shabu-shabu
is tender, thin slices of beef held by chop-sticks
and swished in a pot of boiling water, then
dipped in a sauce and eaten. |
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Soba and
Udon are two kinds of Japanese noodle. Soba
is made from buckwheat flour and Udon from
wheat flour. They are served either in a broth
or dipped in a sauce, and are available in
hundreds of delicious variations. |
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Japanese eateries tend to specialize in one type
of cooking, with their particular specialty being
spelled out (in Japanese) on the blue hanging curtains
in front of the door known as Noren. While most
such establishments welcome any foreign guests who
are willing to make an effort to communicate, some,
perhaps fearful of making mistakes with unusual
guests, do not wish to accept foreign customers. |
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Shopping
In a country that manufactures
a large percentage of the entire world's consumer goods,
and that structures its entire national existence around
the marketplace, it is no surprise that shopping takes
up a goodly proportion of most visitors' time. The Japanese
themselves love shopping, and look upon a visit to the
big department stores in the major cities as recreation.
The stores encourage this by offering child-care service,
giving away free food samples in their grocery markets,
holding art shows and demonstrations of native and foreign
crafts.
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Among the valued
items sought as souvenirs are cameras, VCRs, portable
cassette players, watches, silk, pearls, ceramics, bamboo
ware, dolls, damascene, cloisonn6, lacquer ware, woodblock
prints and curios, all of which are available in specialty
shops and the department stores of Tokyo, Osaka and Kyoto.
Recommended shopping areas in Tokyo include the Ginza,
Shinjuku and Shibuya, while the electronics district of
Akihabara is world-famous for its incredible array of
electronic and electrical devices of all kinds. |
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