Did you know that in 2013, Japanese Cuisine, commonly known as “Washoku(和食)” was named a UNESCO intangible world heritage item?…
Did you know that in 2013, Japanese Cuisine, commonly known as “Washoku(和食)” was named a UNESCO intangible world heritage item? For our third Zeppin 絶品 series, we are looking at Washoku, in particular the most important meal of the day, a Japanese breakfast “Wachoshoku(和朝食)”.
JSRC attended the Wachoshoku Seminar at The Hotel Okura where the benefits of Wachshoku were discussed and manners in how to consume them were bestowed upon the participants before a mouthwatering meal from Yamazato Hotel Okura was served.
According to speaker Prof. Teiji Nakamura of Kanagawa University of Human Services University President, who specializes in nutritional science, Japanese dietary trends have undergone enormous change after WW2.
Before and after the war Japanese people suffered from lack of food and a staple overemphasis resulting in various kinds of malnutrition. However, as the economic situation and short supplies of food improved after the war, there was a large scale effort for implementation of nutrition education and equal distribution of food. Dieticians were stationed in schools and school lunches became a nationwide social dietary experiment and wheat and milk imported from the US were incorporated.
The westernization of diet is a universal tendency in economically advanced countries and studies show a correlation with lifestyle diseases since it tends to increase intake of fat and calories.
