animerevue

Today is Inventory Day here at J-List, when we have to count the many thousands of excellent products we stock. It's quite a job, with our entire 15-person staff counting all the items throughout the day, so we make it fun by ordering lunch from Pizza Hut, which 99% of Japanese think is Pizza Hat. Anyway, we mis-calculated the number of people who'd be eating and didn't order enough quite pizzas, making me worried that there might not be enough food for everyone. However, I'd forgotten about the Japanese tradition of enryo (en-RYO), a word which means constraint, modesty or to refrain from doing something, and when we opened the pizza boxes and told everyone to dig in, it took five minutes or more for the Japanese staff to start eating. The girls would take one piece and say they were full, and we had to literally put the pizza slices on plates and press them into people's hands to get them to eat. In the end, there was just enough pizza to go around. It's difficult as an American to completely understand a concept like enryo, but part of the reason it was so hard to get everyone to start eating was, no one wanted to be perceived as being first to grab for food, so they stood around saying, "No, after you" to each other. This was probably due to having so many people in the same place at once. If there had been only 2-3 people and a single pizza, they'd have been less self-conscious.

We did not get the Macross Frontier pizza special they're running, because you have to order medium pizzas for that, and we needed larges this time. Are they implying that otaku don't have friends, or what?

Izakaya The Japanese Pub Cookbook by Mark Robinson

A Gateway to Japan's Friendliest Dining Experience An introduction to eight brilliant Tokyo izakaya establishments: their histories, their cooking, their chefs and their passion for superb food and drink. A thorough guide to entering the world of izakaya: hints on everything from manners to language. 60 detailed recipes for casual dining and entertaining Comprehensive information on Japanese ingredients, substitutes and cooking techniques A great source of inspiration for hungry gourmets, avid...

Izakaya The Japanese Pub Cookbook by Mark Robinson

A Gateway to Japan's Friendliest Dining Experience An introduction to eight brilliant Tokyo izakaya establishments: their histories, their cooking, their chefs and their passion for superb food and drink. A thorough guide to entering the world of izakaya: hints on everything from manners to language. 60 detailed recipes for casual dining and entertaining Comprehensive information on Japanese ingredients, substitutes and cooking techniques A great source of inspiration for hungry gourmets, avid...

Hello Kitty ECO Re-usable Silicon Bento Cup

In our ongoing quest to help make bento culture even more fun for our customers, we've gotten in this line of silicon washable cups that help keep your food separated in your lunch box. This is a set of two open-ended cups molded into Hello Kitty Shapes (aweee) that you can use to fill up with all sort of side dishes. Microwave safe. A great ECO friendly way to keep the Earth from pollution and an official Sanrio product. (More like this) (Direct link to this product)

Hello Kitty ECO Re-usable Silicon Bento Cup

In our ongoing quest to help make bento culture even more fun for our customers, we've gotten in this line of silicon washable cups that help keep your food separated in your lunch box. This is a set of two open-ended cups molded into Hello Kitty Shapes (aweee) that you can use to fill up with all sort of side dishes. Microwave safe. A great ECO friendly way to keep the Earth from pollution and an official Sanrio product. (More like this) (Direct link to this product)

An interesting aspect of Japanese polite grammar is the honorific "o" that goes in front of some words to give them a higher status. Various words that are especially important in Japanese society receive this prefix, like money (okane) or relationships like mother or grandmother (okaasan, obaasan). It's interesting to notice the patterns of words that take this unique honorific. For example, words having to do with death or Buddhism tend to take it (otera = temple, okoh = Buddhist incense), yet words related to Japan's Shinto religion usually don't. English words don't take the honorific, with the exception of o-new, a slang word for something purchased recently that's very important to you. Adding the honorific "o" to words sort of "softens" it, so words related to children or babies often feature it (omaru = child's potty, omutsu = diapers, oshiri = a cute word referring to a person's rear end). An alternative reading for the "o" kanji is "go" and some words have "go" on the front instead (such as gohan, a polite word for rice or any food). Conceptually, "o" and "go" are exactly the same, since they're written with the same kanji character.

And then there's the always useful omanko, that naughtiest of all words, which takes the honorific "o." Reply in the comments if you don't know that it means.

I saw a report that said Americans throw away an average of 27% of available food, an unfortunate reality in a world where not everyone has enough to eat. Being a prosperous nation, Japan has a similar problem, with a large amount of perfectly good food being disposed of instead of eaten, dispite the loud protests of members of the generation that grew up immediately after World War II, when the country knew real starvation. There are various reasons for this waste, such as unsold food being disposed of in supermarkets and convenience stores at the end of the day, food being tossed due to the expiration dates having passed, or food being left behind in a restaurant by patrons. (There's no custom of taking home a "doggie bag" in Japan and most Japanese would be horrified at the thought of asking for one.) Still, there's a big difference in the potion sizes between Japan and the U.S. with the average plate of food here probably about 25-30% smaller than in the States, and it's surprising how easy it is for foreigners living here to get used to this. Among the benefits of these smaller portions are by ability to be satisfied ordering a "child's" ice cream or frozen yogurt when visiting the States, since the size is just right.

My whole family would be happy sharing something this huge:

The Manga Cook Book

Featuring more than two dozen recipes, The Manga Cookbook shows you how to make Japanese food with real "character!" Reading manga sure can make a person hungry! Food appears frequently in Japanese comics, but what exactly is it that the characters are eating? Introducing The Manga Cookbook, an illustrated step-by-step guide to preparing Japanese cuisine. Learn to identify and make the same things you see in all your favorite manga: authentic onigiri (rice balls), yakitori (skewered chicken...

The Manga Cook Book

Featuring more than two dozen recipes, The Manga Cookbook shows you how to make Japanese food with real "character!" Reading manga sure can make a person hungry! Food appears frequently in Japanese comics, but what exactly is it that the characters are eating? Introducing The Manga Cookbook, an illustrated step-by-step guide to preparing Japanese cuisine. Learn to identify and make the same things you see in all your favorite manga: authentic onigiri (rice balls), yakitori (skewered chicken...

ECO Free Wrap / Multi Microwave Cover ~ L size

Here's a great way to warm up your food without creating any additional trash. This is a plastic microwave cover that measures 20 cm (8 inches) in diameter and is perfect for making sure your rice or other goodies are warmed thoroughly inside and out. Easily washable and reusable so you'll be doing your part to keeping the environment healthy. (More like this) (Direct link to this product)