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How does Sushi reflect Japanese culture?

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How does Sushi reflect Japanese culture?
How Does Sushi Reflect Japanese Culture? Japanese people show great pride in their heritage and they use their food as a form of expression in order to show their cultural heritage. The Japanese focus on the small things in their cuisine that helps make such a large impact in the quality of the food. The country takes pride in their food and uses it for various symbolic reasons. Sushi and pride both have a large correlation in Japanese culture. Their attention to detail is also used as an advantage in order to show people all around the world as to why they are known for their wonderful cuisine. Sushi is pivotal in showing the identity of the Japanese people. Various factors play a role in sushi, such as; the geographical location of the country, the country’s history, its own culture, the aesthetics of the cuisine, and the global economy as a whole. The geographical location is a large reason as to why the country uses sushi in such a large amount of its fine cuisine. The country is largely surrounded by water and their main export also happens to be fish. Japan takes advantage of its geographical location by using its surroundings, the ocean, to the fullest. The geographical location of Japan also highly contributes to the countries own economy. Their main exports are agriculture and fish. Their rice fields and the use of the seaside help Japan’s economy tremendously. The country always manages to have a great harvest for their rice fields which increases the overall value of the rice, thus increasing the economy. Not only does this mean that the economy increases, but for the rice that they do hold on to, has excellent quality and will be applied to their cuisine. Applying better than average quality rice into their cuisine will also increase tourism to the country. Japan’s quality of food is known throughout the entire world and helps represent the Japanese culture as a whole. The history of Japanese cuisine also plays a large role in Japanese


Cited: 2001. Supply-Side Sushi: Commodity, Market, and the Global City. American Anthropologist Volume 103 (1): 76-95. Jstor, www.jstor.org, November 22, 2010. Bestor (2001) Supply-Side Sushi Commodity Market and the Global City Bestor, Theodore C. Casal, U. A. 1957 The Five Sacred Festivals of Ancient Japan: their symbolism and historical development 1993 Rice as self: Japanese identities through time. http://books.google.com/ accessed November 20. 2010. Goldburg, Rebecca and Rosamond Naylor 1995 Sushi, Science, and Spirituality: Modern Japanese Philosophy and Its Views of Western Science. Philosophy East and West Volume 45(2): 227-248. Jstor. www.Jstor.org, November 22, 2010. 2001 Whose Fish Are They Anyway?. Science. 293(5533):1267-1268. Jstor, http://jstor.org/ Mansfield, Becky

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