Japanese Culinary Culture and Identity

Traditional Japanese cuisine called washoku 和食 is deeply rooted in the history and culture of this country. The concept of washoku itself is relatively young as it only came into use at the end of the 19th century in order to distinguish between domestic and European cuisine (yōshoku 洋食). It consists of two morphemes, the first of which wa 和 is the old name of Japan (country of Wa, Yamato) and at the same time means "harmony, fulfillment". The second morpheme shoku 食 means - food. This word therefore indicates Japanese food, but also the harmony of taste and the aesthetic of traditional cuisine. Presently, the term washoku has a broader meaning, as it refers to the culinary tradition that is also the cultural heritage of the Japanese people.