This Is Japan
Explore everyday life in Japan
If you come to Japan to live for any amount of time, your kitchen will probably look something like this, a single countertop that runs the length of one wall and has a sink on one side, a range of some sort on the other, and a very small space for cutting or drying dishes in the middle.
Granted, designer kitchens, kitchens that have been designed around an island or on the backside of a dining counter, are becoming more popular in newer and remodeled homes in Japan, and the ranges and accessories that are installed in these kitchens are becoming nicer and more modern, but I venture to say that the typical kitchen in Japan still looks a lot like this and makes use of four main pieces of equipment: a two burner gas range that looks to me more like a cumbersome and oversized camp stove, a rice cooker, a hot water pot, and something called a dench range, which manages to double as both a microwave and an oven.
Considering the amount of amazing food that comes from Japan, when I first came here, I was totally surprised by the lack of preparation space and cooking equipment in the typical Japanese kitchen. Coming from America, having a large oven with a broiler, a four burner stove, and counter space for keeping mixers, food processors, and possibly even a microwave on seemed necessary to me. Without these things, I thought, how would I cook? Needless to say, the food that I have come to cook regularly in Japan is different from the food that I used to cook when I lived in America. Likewise, the customs surrounding food preparation that I have become accustomed to in Japan are also quite different from the customs that I assumed to be normal when living in America.
I think it could be said that a typical kitchen, its design and layout, and the utensils that are found in it, reflects the society and the culture that produces it. In Japan, the lack of a large, and in my opinion adequate oven, and the reliance on two burners to produce most of the food in a household is a reflection of a cuisine that has been developed over centuries, a cuisine that often requires dishes to be slowly simmered in advance and set aside to be later served either chilled or at room temperature. The demand for food to be served all at once and piping hot that I grew up with in America simply does not exist in Japan. Tables are often set in the order that dishes are completed, and generally, everyone waits until the last dish is set on the table, the drinks are poured, and everyone is seated before the meal begins.
This is an ongoing series that will explore various aspects of daily life in Japan. My hope is that this series will not only reveal to its followers, image by image, what Japan looks like, but that it will also inform its followers about unique Japanese items and various cultural and societal practices. If you are interested in getting regular updates about life in Japan, please consider following me at @boxcarblue. If you have any questions about life in Japan, please don’t hesitate to ask. I will do my best to answer all of your questions.
Another great post by @boxcarblue! I'm featuring this post in my "today in the spotlight" segment which I include on each Daily blogpost.
@daveks: Thanks! I really appreciate that, and your continuous support!
I was a bit shocked and dismayed to see the kitchen in my small apartment when I first came to Japan. But now that I'm used to it, I have reverse culture shock when I take vacations back to the US. Last time I visited my parents, I started washing the dishes by hand one night and they asked me why I didn't put them in the dishwasher. My reaction was "oh, I forgot you had one. Haven't used a dishwasher in years."
I've always held that Japan is a country of contradictions. So advanced in some regards, and yet so lacking in other things that people from outside the country take for granted (another example that comes to mind is how you hang clothes outside to dry on clotheslines; although dryers exist they are rare and inferior to their American counterparts). And yet, these seeming contradictions make perfect sense once you change your perspective and realize that it's basically a way to make the most efficient use of small living spaces as possible.
By the way, one great thing I've learned in Japan is that birthday cakes come out great when baked in a rice cooker!
I've seen those rice cooker recipe books, and I know people who can bake really well using the dench ranges over here, but I haven't tried learning how to use these devices beyond cooking rice and heating things up. I'm sure there is a way to roast chicken perfectly over here and bake lasagna properly, but I haven't figured those ways out yet. I tried making pizza from scratch once when I first got here and the top of the pizza baked perfectly while the bottom remained mostly raw and doughy.
I hear you about the reverse culture shock, especially when I look at the yards around peoples' houses and all the work and resources they take to maintain. I usually spend the first week or so thinking that yards are such a waste of space and materials, and the next week wishing I had one. I also spend the first few days thinking anyone with blonde hair is Russian because most of the blonde haired people where I live tend to be Russian. After living abroad for so long, the first few days home are always really interesting.
Rice cooker cake is the only thing I can bake relatively well. I've tried brownies and cookies in the dench range, and I can never get them to come out just right. Oh well, it's good enough to have fun making stuff with my daughter and that's all that really counts. I do miss being able to cook up a big old turkey for Thanksgiving though.
Hehe, I know what you mean about yards. First time I took my wife to the US, she looked around at my parents' yard in a kind of shock, and said "how do you make use of so much space? It's like having a park at your house!". Afterward she said the weirdest thing about the US is that it's so hard to find a drink vending machine. She thought it was so inconvenient having to actually drive to a store to buy something to drink.
My wife misunderstood the word vending and thought vending machines were called benri machines after the Japanese word for convenient, or handy. She was so amazed that we called them benri machines and guessed that because they were called benri machines they were a Japanese invention. She was disappointed to find out that they are actually called vending machines and that they aren't on every corner in America like they are in Japan.
I felt the same way about cheap gas station coffee when I first came to Japan. Now, just like back home, you can get coffee anywhere for a reasonable price.
Followed :) Looking forward to new posts about this strange island.
Thanks! I'm glad to hear it!
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