japanese culture

A friend was wondering out loud on Facebook, why the kanji characters for fugu (pufferfish) are 河豚. She was pondering the use of 豚, the second character, which means "pig", but the first character 河 is a mystery too, since it means river - and the fugu that we know and eat today (or get all het up about how dangerous it is, depending on where you are from) is an ocean fish.

Valentine's Day in Japan is rather different.

Weight loss shows on TV show cultural differences.

Butter shortages in post-modern Japan.

What do Japanese kids like to eat? The answer may surprise you.

Eggs, plus the history of ranking restaurants and food in Japan.

The life of a remarkable man, who used his wealth to help people in many meaningful ways.

The great city of Osaka is invaded by one giant rubber duck...and a small edible one.

A quick update to show I'm still alive ^_^ Also some photos from Japan.

A lot of people who come to this site or JustBento are here because they think Japanese cooking is very healthy. By and large it is, but, like any cuisine it's not 100% healthy by any means. I've been thinking about what parts of Japanese cuisine are indeed healthy, and what aren't, following up on my previous posts about sushi here and here. Here's what I have come up with.