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変わりゆく日本の食事
ピザやファーストフードだけでなく、コンビニに行けば出来合いのおかずが何でも手に入る。食習慣が変化していくのは仕方がないが、伝統的な日本食が廃れていくのはいかがなものか、と筆者は言う。
It's also a telling sign of the pressure-cooker lifestyles that more and more Japanese are dealing with and of the spread of convenience-store culture.
I have always admired the clean, light flavors and cooking styles of traditional Japanese cuisine. The age-old methods of preparing food focus on fresh, seasonal ingredients and subtle tastes. Food is often served raw or lightly broiled or parboiled. Even traditional deep-fried cuisine, such as tempura, requires only the lightest of batters and quick frying in top-quality oil.
Dessert, more often than not, was simply limited to fruit. Such culinary principles surely have helped to keep Japanese people relatively healthy. The nation still boasts the longest average life span among developed countries, but there has been a significant increase in heart disease and diet-related health problems.
The Japanese diet has changed greatly since the end of World War II, when Western food began gaining popularity. As a result, fat consumption has increased dramatically, while the intake of raw and natural foods has dwindled. Some of the changes are due to the natural process of modernization.
Traditional breakfasts, for example, are simply not practical for many people to prepare in the morning. But I think the increasingly frenetic pace of urban life and the erosion of traditional family lifestyles have a lot to do with the breakdown of the traditional diet.
I notice that many mothers rely these days on frozen or ready-prepared items. Their children then develop the taste for cheap, convenient foods such as hamburgers, french fries and takeout pizza. They grow up with little taste for traditional foods ― to the extent that it now seems unfashionable among young people to go out for traditional Japanese food. It's much cooler, I suppose, to go to McDonald's or an Italian restaurant. Even traditional izakaya, which are roughly equivalent to pubs or bistros in Western countries, now serve pizza, croquettes and cheese dishes.
Of course, there's an upside to the evolution in Japanese tastes. Diets are more diversified, there're more meat and dairy products, and young Japanese are also growing taller, as well as bigger. If only there would be more attention paid to balance between the traditional and the modern.
I was disturbed to read recently about the significant increase in obesity among young Japanese, particularly schoolchildren. The report didn't surprise me, though, given the society's changing attitude toward nutrition and eating habits. But it's a saddening reminder of the enormous inroads that American-style fast food chains and pizza delivery services have made in Japan.
It's also a telling sign of the pressure-cooker lifestyles that more and more Japanese are dealing with and of the spread of convenience-store culture.
I have always admired the clean, light flavors and cooking styles of traditional Japanese cuisine. The age-old methods of preparing food focus on fresh, seasonal ingredients and subtle tastes. Food is often served raw or lightly broiled or parboiled. Even traditional deep-fried cuisine, such as tempura, requires only the lightest of batters and quick frying in top-quality oil.
Dessert, more often than not, was simply limited to fruit. Such culinary principles surely have helped to keep Japanese people relatively healthy. The nation still boasts the longest average life span among developed countries, but there has been a significant increase in heart disease and diet-related health problems.
The Japanese diet has changed greatly since the end of World War II, when Western food began gaining popularity. As a result, fat consumption has increased dramatically, while the intake of raw and natural foods has dwindled. Some of the changes are due to the natural process of modernization.
Traditional breakfasts, for example, are simply not practical for many people to prepare in the morning. But I think the increasingly frenetic pace of urban life and the erosion of traditional family lifestyles have a lot to do with the breakdown of the traditional diet.
I notice that many mothers rely these days on frozen or ready-prepared items. Their children then develop the taste for cheap, convenient foods such as hamburgers, french fries and takeout pizza. They grow up with little taste for traditional foods ― to the extent that it now seems unfashionable among young people to go out for traditional Japanese food. It's much cooler, I suppose, to go to McDonald's or an Italian restaurant. Even traditional izakaya, which are roughly equivalent to pubs or bistros in Western countries, now serve pizza, croquettes and cheese dishes.
Of course, there's an upside to the evolution in Japanese tastes. Diets are more diversified, there're more meat and dairy products, and young Japanese are also growing taller, as well as bigger. If only there would be more attention paid to balance between the traditional and the modern.
Shukan ST: March 7, 1997
(C) All rights reserved
- diet
- 食事
- was disturbed to 〜
- 〜 して驚いた
- significant
- 急激な
- obesity
- 肥満
- given 〜
- 〜 を考えると
- nutrition
- 栄養
- eating habits
- 食習慣
- it's a saddening reminder of 〜
- それ(肥満体の増加)は、 〜 を悲しく思い起こさせるものである
- enormous inroads that 〜 have made in 〜
- 〜 が 〜 に対してやってのけた大攻勢
- delivery services
- 宅配サービス
- telling sign
- きわめて顕著な兆候
- pressure-cooker 〜
- ストレスに満ちた 〜
- more and more Japanese are dealing with
- ますます多くの日本人がかかわっている
- spread of 〜
- 〜 のまん延
- (have)admired
- 感心してきた
- light flavors
- 薄味
- cuisine
- 料理
- age-old methods of 〜
- 昔からの 〜 法
- focus on 〜
- 〜 を主体にしている
- seasonal ingredients
- 旬の素材
- subtle tastes
- 繊細な味つけ
- (is)served raw or lightly boiled or parboiled
- 生のままか、さっとあぶるか、湯通しして食卓に出される
- deep-fried
- 油で揚げた
- requires only 〜
- 〜 が必要なだけである
- the lightest of batters
- 非常にあっさりした衣
- quick frying in top-quality oil
- 上質の油ですばやく揚げること
- more often than not
- たいていは
- culinary principles
- 調理の原則
- surely have helped to keep 〜 relatively healthy
- 〜 が比較的よい健康を保つ上で確実に助けになってきた
- boasts the longest average life span among 〜
- 〜 の中でも平均寿命が最長である
- heart disease
- 心臓病
- diet-related health problems
- 食生活が原因で起こる不調
- began gaining popularity
- 人気が出てきた
- fat consumption
- 脂の摂取量
- dramatically
- 劇的に
- intake
- 摂取
- has dwindled
- 減少してきた
- are due to 〜
- 〜 による
- natural process of modernization
- 近代化の上での自然な成り行き
- practical
- 実際的な
- increasingly frenetic
- どんどん早くなる
- urban
- 都会の
- erosion
- 風化
- have a lot to do with 〜
- 〜 と大いに関係がある
- breakdown
- 崩壊
- (rely)on frozen or ready-prepared items
- 冷凍や出来合いのおかずに依存している
- develop the taste for 〜
- 〜 が好きになる
- takeout
- 持ち帰り用の
- with little taste for 〜
- 〜 の味をほとんど知らずに
- to the extent that 〜
- 〜 の程度まで
- (is)much cooler
- ずっと格好いい
- roughly
- だいたい
- (are)equivalent to 〜
- 〜 と同じだ
- bistros
- 小さなレストラン
- croquettes
- コロッケ
- upside
- 良い面
- evolution
- 革命
- (are)diversified
- 多様化している
- dairy products
- 乳製品
- If only there would be more attention paid to 〜
- もっと 〜 に気を配りがなされればいいのに