Image from the mottainai info site.
I asked each time why these folks would stuff themselves and the answer was always "mottainai", which means they didn't want to waste anything. The memories of famine during and after World War II have created a mentality in Japan of not wasting things, especially food. Those who suffered during the war grew up not allowing one grain of rice to be wasted. Even now, you'll find people in Japan overeating so as not to waste food.
Despite the fact that there are different types of waste in Japan (especially in the service of building new buildings every 15 minutes), there is a mentality that food should not be wasted. In the U.S., I've found that people waste food with abandon. Since returning, I've thought that I could comfortably, perhaps lavishly, subsist on the food people bought and never ate or did not finish. I miss the attitude that food is too important to waste.
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I have heard doggy baggies are not a thing in Japan. Whether or not it is true my hubs and I never over feed ourselves. We generally share a meal and if we have left overs we enjoy them at a later date. I don't like being wasteful with food and I think (unless I pack a baggie or plastic container) I may find myself being wasteful when I do go to Japan. Better than feeling sick or even worse barfing because you had too much.
ReplyDeleteOf course, in Japan, it's easier not to waste food at restaurants because they don't give you enormous portions. Here, we often get two meals (sometimes 3) from restaurant leftovers. However, there were definitely times when I missed the doggie bag culture of the U.S. when in Japan.
DeleteIs mottainai really so modern a concept that it originated in the 40s? I had no idea. I find etymology really interesting, though trying to dive into etymology of a foreign language is really, really daunting.
ReplyDeleteI think that it's not a modern concept, but as a common mentality, it was strongly reinforced by the starvation around war time. Just as the Great Depression strongly imprinted such ideas in our grandparents and great grandparents(well, mine, since I'm 48), the war brought it into collective consciousness in Japan.
Delete"Mottainai" also didn't become a campaign slogan and get printed all over the place until around the time of the Kyoto accords (starting in 1997). It wasn't something I saw during my early days in Japan, but it was being printed on pizza boxes and showing up on neighborhood signs with increasing frequency as time went by.
I was only in Japan for 3 years but this was something that I definitely internalized. It was something I had to break out of once I returned home because the portions here are sooooo much bigger.
ReplyDeleteI ate lunch with my students every day and what I really liked was the way that they had to finish everything regardless of whether they liked it or not. Now that I'm teaching in the states it's sad to see a) kids eating horribly unhealthy cafeteria food and b) being allowed to throw a lot of it away simply because they don't like it.
There's a web site that shows school lunches and the Japanese ones are generally better than the American ones. They still have too many refined carbs (large portions of rice and/or bread), but they look much better in terms of balance.
DeleteI also liked how Japanese people in general were open-minded about food. There were rarely any types of food they'd rule out entirely, and I'm guessing that may have something to do with what you're talking about when they had to eat everything. That early exposure matters. Though I generally don't believe in forcing people to eat everything, most of the food in Japan is relatively palatable by children because it tends to be blander (no raw vegetables like onions which are too strong for kids).
Food in the U.S., I've discovered, is pretty poorly made compared to Japan. I hate to say that. It's the sort of thing I used to hear people say all of the time when I lived in Japan and felt it was simply wrong. Now that I'm back, except for ethnic food (Indian, esp.), I've been very disappointed by the food in restaurants. The only place I've been to twice has been an Indian one not too far from us. The American-style food is just boring or bad in my experience, but I'm not eating at high-end dining places!
Interesting, and very true in Japan. However, I grew up not so far from where you did---just one state south--- and in the same era. When we were kids, we were not allowed to waste any food. You ate everything at the dinner table or sat there until you did. If you couldn't then no dessert. It was the same in my small very rural grade school. Teachers would make sure we all cleaned out plates, or at least made an effort to do so. Wasn't it the same for you? Or has the US changed so much? (I haven't been away as long as you were, but have not been back since 1999.)
ReplyDeleteI wonder if the servings were smaller in the US, the price higher, and doggy bags not available, if they would not be doing the same thing.
The U.S. has changed incredibly much since I was last here. In fact, I should write a post about what I've seen that has truly shocked me since coming back.
DeleteI can't speak for how kids eat since I don't have any and don't know anyone with children (people in my age group with kids have grown ones). When I was growing up, we were very poor and my mother was a terrible cook. She didn't force us to eat everything, but she harangued us when we didn't eat as much as she thought we should. Since she always overcooked and over-preprared, this was not a good situation. So, we weren't spoiled, but we also had a parent in charge of our diets who didn't have a clue about how to feed her kids and it was difficult to please her without eating twice as much as we should. I think that was related to not wanting to waste food (and we always had mountains of leftovers which would be eaten up), but also the fact that my mother had no idea of scale. She'd peel and mash an entire 5-lb. bag of potatoes for 4 people for dinner and make about 6 of the cheapest pork chops (cooked to dry shoe leather) and slop out a can of super salty, limp, and grey-green green beans.
This was poor people food, and we ate it all (later, if not sooner). However, I will not eat canned vegetables anymore because of my experiences, and prefer not to eat the types of meat she used to make (beef and pork mainly, but also venison and rabbit). These days, I'm as likely as not to just eat vegetarian by default (making my own falafel for about 15-30 cents a serving, or making black bean soup). I'll try anything, but I have my preferences and they all are things I never ate growing up. ;-)
While I agree it's not good to waste food, I never understood how eating all the food is any better. You're still "wasting" it, because to eat food when you're already satisfied isn't to anyone's benefit. If you save it for later, great, but leaving it on your plate and eating it when you're stuffed are the same thing, as far as I'm concerned.
ReplyDeleteYou absolutely have a good point, Dennis.
DeleteI think it's more the attitude, and the fact that there are smaller portions as a result of it. In theory though, people eat a lot less later for having eaten more at one sitting. I know my students who stuffed themselves often ate next to nothing the next day (skipped breakfast and lunch, ate nothing more than a rice ball for dinner). However, that may not be typical behavior and treating your body like a garbage can isn't a good thing.
I recently found out they got a similar culture in Europe, specially in England. Being a tourist, I was warned that leaving food in your place was considered rude, including in a restaurant. And I heard stories about exchange students of all ages - from teenagers to grown men and women - being childed on both wasting or asking for seconds. You should eat your portion and that's all. This too was a consequence of World War II, when there was food shortage.
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