Japanese people are crazy about mayonnaise. I don't mean that they enjoy it as a condiment like many Americans. It's like a fifth food group to them. One of my former coworkers used to buy a bowl of instant ramen and a tube of Kewpie mayonnaise (which held about 4 tablespoons of mayo) and he'd squeeze the entire contents into his ramen. There are also mayo snacks and in bakeries you find bread with heaping dollops of the stuff. I like mayonnaise in small quantities, but the Japanese usage exceeds what I (and most Western folks) would consider personally appealing. That being said, I really get a kick out of all of these thin and healthy people eating something we feel is part of instant obesity or heart failure. I also am amused by the types of food items that mayonnaise creeps into or how it dominates a dish in a way I'd never expect. A former acquaintance told me that she once went to dinner at a student's home and was served one giant iceberg lettuce leaf with a heaping helping of mayonnaise on it. There are even mayonnaise fan clubs in Japan.
I'll miss the mayo mania.
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