Comparison between the Japanese and Bangladeshi Food Culture.
Every country has its own culture which gives them individuality from other
cultures. It is a commonly shared custom of a society. As described by Ralph Linton in
Anthropology. A Brief Introduction, “Culture refers to the total way of life of any society,
not simply to those parts of this way which the society as regards higher or more
desirable, Thus culture, when applied to our own way of life, has nothing to do with
playing the piano or reading browning. For the social scientist such activities are simply
elements within the totality of our culture… It follows that for the social scientist there
are no uncultured societies or even individuals…every human being is cultured, in the
sense of participating in some culture or other” (192). Culture is a combination of learned
behaviors, beliefs, attitudes, values, ands ideals that are characteristics of a particular
society. Japanese culture is similar to some other Asian cultures. They have great
patience about making food and serving those hot. Perseverance is the big example of
how Japanese people got industrial success. As Encyclopedia of Japanese Culture
explains, “Japan is of course unique just as America…A strong characteristic of Japan’s
particular uniqueness is that the nation has held on to it’s Japanese ness despite a long
history of voracious cultural borrowings”. Japanese are proud with their tradition and
customs. Similarly, Bangladesh is enriched with customs and various festivals are a part
of our tradition. People of Bangladesh never get tired of these festivals. Some of the
festivals are seasonal, some are religious, and some are rural festivals. Food plays an
important role at wedding and on important festivals. Family value is a big factor to us. In
our lives family comes first. Everybody is dedicated to his family, one way or another.
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We love to have guest and entertain them with delicious food. Our hospitality never
seizes to amaze other cultures people.
Japanese eat a wide range of food. The staple of their diet is rice which is usually
eaten plain without seasoning, butter etc. Rice is complimented with other dishes: fish’
meat, vegetables, pickles, and soup. According to the movie Tampopo, Soba and Udon
are two types of noodle that Japanese people love very much. Both foods can be eaten
either hot or cold. Soba is very nutritious and has a unique aroma and texture when eaten.
In summer time Japanese people love cold soba noodles served in a broth with various
toppings. Soba noodles are made by mixing buckwheat flour and water then kneading
and cutting the dough into thin strips. Sometimes flour and egg are added to the mixture
to make noodle more elastic. Udon, on the other hand, made by mixing flour and salted
water to form a dough, which is then cut into thin strips, it is easily digested, can be
served in a variety of ways. Using different ingredients and soy sauce, Udon can be made
in variety of ways. As Paul Norbury depicts in Culture Smart! JAPAN, “Other popular
dishes that appeal to the visitor are sukiyaki (as already noted), yakitory (grilled chicken),
and teppanyaki (cuped steak cooked on a hot plate)” (113).
Rice is the national food of Bangladesh. Rice is so important in Bangladeshi
society that it has been called the essence of culture. This is also true in other Asian
cultures where rice is the main dietary staple. It is almost impossible for most of the
Bangladeshis to think of a meal without rice. Fish is another important dish related to our
culture. For a source of protein fish is a common staple in most meals. There are many
ways of preparing fish, for example, grilled, baked, fried, curry poached etc. The most
traditional Bangladeshi meal is a serving of plain white rice along with a main dish (fish
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or meat) and some kind of side dish (often cooked vegetables). In first day of “Bangla
New Year” we go to park where everyone wears traditional dress and eat “rice and fish”
under the tree in open air with their friends and families. It is a big festival in our culture.
We also go to New Year Fare that day where we have food festival. Different kinds of
rice cake is another representation of our culture. This cake is made out with rice flour,
egg, milk, sugar, lentil and other ingredients. Every year we enjoy ‘cake fare’ in “Bangla
New Year” and in “winter season”. There we explore hundred to two hundreds new rice
cake which represents different rural parts of our country. When villagers make this cake,
they enjoy the process of making it. They sings and gossips with their families and
friends while making rice cakes. Pounding rice to make rice cake is an important
traditional event in preparation for the New Year or wedding ceremony. For making rice
cakes a special type of sticky rice that’s been soaked in water overnight and steamed is
placed in a large bowl made of wood. A heavy hammer like object used to pound rice
into paste. After having the rice paste, people use different ingredients along with rice
paste to make different kind of rice cake. Some rice cakes are decorated with needle or
thorn like object. People love eating this home made rice cake. However, people live
urban city doesn’t have much time to produce rice paste and make rice cake because of
hectic schedule. Most urban residents usually buy rice flour or plastic wrapped rice cakes
from the supermarket. New Year wouldn’t be the same in Bangladeshi culture without
rice cake.
Japanese people are very patient and good natured when it comes to eating. This
film showed a nice and gentle way of eating food. We encountered how they show
respect when they enjoy soup. At first they show the affection to the food, then poke the
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pork gently and apologize to it. They start eating noodle first, then they look at the pork
and sip the soup. During the whole eating period, they eye it affectionately. Making noise
while eating food in considered polite in Japan. If a person makes a lot of noise it means
he is enjoying the food but talking with a mouth full of food is not gentle way of eating in
their point of view. Japanese people think if they don’t make any noise, it would be
disrespectful to food as well as to the host. This movie shows Japanese people use
chopsticks while having food. Some restaurants offer knives, forks and spoons. However,
there are many places where chopsticks are the only eating utensils offered. Japanese
food is to be consumed by the eyes as well as the tongue. Before and while eating they
take their time to appreciate the beauty, the freshness and the smell of the food. Japanese
people eat what is supposed to be hot while it is still is hot. As Encyclopedia of Japanese
Culture suggests Japanese method of eating shows, “Eating is a pleasure and
conversation is a part of that pleasure. It is good to be stimulated by conversation, but be
careful not to let it dominate your meal, and not to speak in such a loud voice that
disturbs people at other table” (103).
In Bangladesh, we see different kinds of table manner according to social status.
Religion is in every aspect of our life. People start eating food with God’s name and
finish food by thanking God for providing food. Eighty percent of the total population
lives in villages. Villagers like to have fresh food. When they eat, they like to make noise.
After all their hard work when they come home, they eat as if they are eating for the first
time in their life. They finished their food with a satisfied smile. They usually talk abut
their day to day life while they are eating. On the contrary, upper class people, who
mostly live in the city, exhibit different table manners. Like villagers, they start their food
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by God’s name and finish it by thanking God for providing food. According to religion,
we shouldn’t talk too much or curse while we are eating. It has similar value as praying.
If we talk continuously while we eat, it shows disrespect to food. To elite class society
while having food, making noise is not polite. In homely atmosphere most of the time we
use hand instead of spoons while we eat. But when we eat noodle or soup, we use spoon
and fork. It may look odd for other culture people if they see us using hand instead of
spoon. We are comfortable using hand in informal place and that’s the custom of our
society. In public place or in restaurant we usually use spoon and fork instead of hand.
In most of the Asian country women are in charge of cooking and other household
chores. Men, on the other hand, are head of the family. They make the living for their
family. They don’t take responsibly for every day’s food preparation. In this movie, we
experienced a scenario where a woman was severely ill. Her husband knew no matter
what how sick she was, if he asks for food, she will make it. He had an intention that his
wife will be well again while she is making food. When he asked for food, his wife stood
up to make food. Even though she died at last, that scenario showed how women in
Japanese culture take responsibilities for their family. As pointed in Countries and their
Cultures by editor Ember and Carol, “In the late nineteenth century, when new legal
codes institutionalized family norms, the control of husband over wife was codified. In
virtually all legal, political, and social contexts outside the home, women were
subordinate to the male house-hold head” (1151).
There are similarities between Japanese and Bangladeshis when it comes to food
and gender. In family life, women are in charge of food preparation and they serve it
nicely. Men usually don’t take the charge of kitchen section. They work hard for their
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family and provide food. Women, on the other hand, take care of daily food preparation
and household work. It doesn’t matter if women are sick or very busy with their hectic
official work. They still think about what will be the menu for dinner table and always
find time to make the food. Unlike America, we don’t like frozen meal. We like fresh
food which would be served hot. After coming from everyday busy work, we like to have
food and enjoy it with our family. Like Japan, in most of the restaurant we see men chef.
Presumably, it’s because men are biologically and physically stronger than women. In
restaurant chef needs to be real quick and efficient. Otherwise, they would not be able to
make food in such a short time. Men may take cooking as their professional life but they
don’t want to cook in their personal family life.
This movie showed when eating at home, Japanese enjoy both traditional dishes
(like noodle soup made with buckwheat soba or flour udon) and those of foreign origin
like spaghetti. As Noriko Kamachi pointed out in Culture And Customs Of Japan, “Meals
in Japan range from traditional cuisine to more convenient Western-style fare. It is often
said that younger people are weaning themselves from the rice centered traditional meal.
Also, increasing numbers of people regularly eat fast food or ready-to-eat food sold in the
basement section of the department stores or at neighborhood convenience stores”(113).
Like Japanese, Bangladeshis also enjoys both traditional food (fish and rice) and some
foreign origin like burger, steak and noodles. Bangladesh has many different kinds of
restaurant which represent different countries food. Young generation likes diversity of
food. They specially like western food, for example, MacDonald’s, Burger King and hot
and spicy Chinese food.
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In this movie, we experienced how food and sex are related in Japanese culture.
When they are having sex, they make it more fun by using food such as egg, whipped
cream, fruit extracts etc. In Bangladesh, people are conservative when it comes to sex.
Sex is not a matter of open discussion for most of the people. However, some elite and
high society people are adventurous in sex by using flowers, ice and some times food
product. In general, using food while having sex still a new and abandon idea in
Bangladeshi culture.
As Asian countries, Japan and Bangladesh share some similar values of life and
customs. Food is related to our culture and life very deeply. We can’t think of an
occasion without delicious food whether we are happy or sad, enjoying or grieving. We
include food in every aspect of our life. Even though there are some differences between
these two countries in table manners, food and sex, both of these countries share same
value of having traditional food in traditional programs. Our traditional food represents
our cultures and enhances the attraction of our cultures. Both of these countries women
are caring about food preparation for their family. Our cultures are enriched with great
diversity of food. It is a surprising similarity that both of these countries young
generation are weaning themselves from the rice centered traditional meal to the western
style fast food. The possible explanation could be people are getting busy in this modern
twenty first century; they don’t have much time to prepare traditional food. That’s why
they are leaning in to fast food. But, can fast food replace the traditional food? I honestly
believe not.
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Work-Cited
Ember, Carol, R, Melvin, Ember. Anthropology. A Brief Introduction. New Jersey:
Prentice Hall, 2003.
Kamachi, Noriko. Culture And Customs Of Japan. London: Greenwood Press, 1999.
Norbury, Paul. Culture Smart! JAPAN. Great Britain: Kuperard, 2003.
“The Soul and Heritage of Japan.” Pictorial Encyclopedia of JAPANESE CULTURE.
11th ed. 1987. 102-103.
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