Travel To Japan: Long before Japanese food became so emblematic

The Local News Today

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15 Aug 2020

00:32 CEST+02:00

Long before Japanese food became so emblematic, with sushi and shabu shabu, ramen and yakitori prized the world over, there was another cuisine here that has almost been forgotten.

Sachiko Hoshizawa carefully drew up bowls and plates on a crisp autumn morning in Hokkaido, Japan 's northernmost island. In a comfortable, yellow apron she dressed perfectly, ensuring that she had an appropriate array of plates, chopsticks, and mixing bowls in the long tables in front of her. The ingredients than were prepared and pieces of salmon, kelp, potato, carrots, and spring onions were carefully placed on the counter of a small kitchen. Finally, she looked at the scene and stood behind her counter, ideally fitted with a television-ready smile, ready to rush into the room with a keen queue.

The Ainu are the original inhabitants of Hokkaido, Japan’s northernmost island (Credit: Michele and Tom Grimm/Alamy)

Hoshizawa, a very famous TV cooker in Japan, was planning a much-awaited cooking class and I attended. While Japanese cuisine provides an abundance of gastronomic delights, with an endless assortment of regional dishes, Ainu cuisine, the food of the Japanese indigenous, was cooked today. That’s because, long before Japanese food became so emblematic, with sushi and shabu shabu, ramen and yakitori prized the world over, there was another cuisine here that has almost been forgotten.

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Most of the world won't have heard of the indigenous people of Japan, not to mention their food. The Ainu is the original Hokkaido people, who have been living on and with land for thousands of years on this island and parts of the region around. The Ainu traditionally chanted, forged, and fished, unlike the Japanese, who practiced rice farming. Their culinary culture was rich and lively and inspired Japanese cuisine clearly and forever.

Remi Ie, Director of Japan Slow Food International, said: 'Without the indigenous Japanese people, you wouldn't have that famous Japanese taste. "We have developed and promoted Japan's food culture."

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