I don't know if the following theory was already covered...

Most of the Japanese dramas I watch are family related... And it's true that just about all of them involve a great deal of not just eating, but eating as a family unit.

My theory is that in America, hardly any families eat together anyone. That's why Thanksgiving and Christmas is such as fricking big deal in America... Not because of the idealism behind the holidays (Jesus, pilgrims, etc.), but because it's really the only two times of the year where the family get together to do ANYTHING!!!!

In Japan, there are two things I've observed, looking from the outside... One, family is much more important there than it is in America... That's an undisputible fact. And two, there seems to be a lot more "nuclear" based families in Japan than in America, which is why you see a lot more scenes of mother/father/grandparents/kids eating together in Japanese dramas.

The symbolism behind food in Japan is much different than it is in America. In America, food is just one of those things you must digest in order to survive, and the three meals a day are just that -- three meals a day. In Japan, it seems that food symbolizes love. That may be also be true in America, but I don't see that much love at the dinner table in today's TV.

Again, this is just my personal observation and interpretation through my years of existence.

--- groink

Geezer wrote:

gahbryel Oh, why are there more eating scenes in Japanese Dramas? Probably because J-Dramas are shot at such a furious pace. They don't do a lot of takes. They don't work with a lot of camera angles. So they can afford to let the actors eat. In most American shows, the filmed ones especially, each scene is shot a number of different times. The master shot. The close-ups for each actor. Reaction shots. et. al. The actors do the scenes over and over again, and that means they have to keep eating that same piece of pie, or that same big mac, over and over again. The prop people have to keep replacing the food items for each take. And the actors tend to get sick if they have to keep eating through each and every take. Not to mention how annoying it can be, trying to understand someone whose mouth is full of food. Maybe if American shows came with English subtitles it would be okay to let the actors stuff their faces.

ah! interesting. maybe it's the camera movement (lack of) that made me feel jdoramas are different from other (US) series i've seen.

i think the food in the mouth thing might be the key. in jdoramas they often show people eating - i.e. actually putting food in the mouth, while in the US tv series, the foods mostly just sit there, and you don't often see food being eaten (not drinking, since drinking is easier to fake than eating) unless there is a punchline about the food.

Geezer wrote:

gahbryel "alimentation" Great word! You actually sent me to my dictionary. The act or process of affording nutriment. The state of being nourished. Thank you. I'll remember that one. .

Thanks, Geezer: you saved me a trip to my dictionary. Alimentation...


All right. So I'm not the only one who noticed the alimentary element in doramas.

eltinator wrote:

I think this could actually go for any asian drama or movie. Just from a personal perspective, since I am Chinese, it seems like Asian cultures cherish food more than western.

Really? I'll have to check out some non-Japanese Asian dramas then. Come to think of it, I may look into European television while I'm at it; it may not be a Western custom but merely an American one. International Channel, here I come!

groink wrote:

My theory is that in America, hardly any families eat together anymore.

Do you mean after the kids are all grown up and have moved out? I mean, families would have to eat together while the kids are still in the K-12 system. Then again, I could be generalizing from my own experience. Anyone want to contribute to this?

vibius wrote:

You guys are making me hungry ... I want some ... Okonomiyaki!

Mmmm...okonomiyaki...

icpmat wrote:

i think the food in the mouth thing might be the key. in jdoramas they often show people eating - i.e. actually putting food in the mouth, while in the US tv series, the foods mostly just sit there, and you don't often see food being eaten (not drinking, since drinking is easier to fake than eating) unless there is a punchline about the food.

You're right -that's exactly what I had noticed.

kiyometa mizu wrote:

Do you mean after the kids are all grown up and have moved out? I mean, families would have to eat together while the kids are still in the K-12 system. Then again, I could be generalizing from my own experience. Anyone want to contribute to this?

In my own family situation, my dad worked two jobs. So when I ate dinner, it was only my mother and I who ate together, while my dad was in the bedroom sleeping. I'm hearing about similar stories where the family members eat on their own schedules, which for me explains issues like the dietary situation among Americans, but that's a totally different subject matter. So to answer your question, for most of America, I don't see a complete family unit getting together at dinner time, even when there's K-12 people involved.

If you look at the various US census statistics, there are quite a number (though not the majority) of single-parent families. And also, there are many families with both the mom and dad working, causing scheduling problems when it comes to ANY FORM of family get-togethers. My theory about American sit-coms is that you see more man/wife/kids shows than any other type (Everbody Loves Raymond, King of Queens, George Lopez Show, Yes Dear...), which tries to educate today's young people that families do still get together and eat dinner!

The HUGE picture out of all of this is that America is facing hard times -- economically and socially. Japan may also be facing economic and social problems as well, however from what I've been observing the Japanese and Americans deal with these problems differently. I'm seeing that the Japanese work a lot harder at keeping traditional values, which seem to be helping them keep their families together. As for Americans, though people there would like to keep these same family values and traditions going, it's basically every man and woman for themselves, and family values/traditions become secondary.

Maybe I watch too much Soko ga Shiritai, letting that show program my brain with mis-information about the Japanese.

--- groink

gahbryel wrote:

Maybe that is because some American ppl don't watch too much about their alimentation, thus making it a less attractive aspect to exploit during a serie. That is only a theory but i think it might explain it a bit. Take me for example :p i really have a very irregular eating cycle, which is not necessarely good for my health. Sometimes i can eat 4-5 times a day, when on some other, i don't even eat. I mostly eat when i feel like.

hee! hee! "Alimentation" is a French word for exactly that .. eating! It's rare (at least for me) to see the word used in English.

From an Asian coming from the French part of Canada

I agree that you see a lot of food in Japanese dramas ... but, as many have pointed out, food is a significant part of Japanese (Asian) culture. BTW, the "ramen moments" in Beautiful Life got my mouth watering! ... it's extremely difficult (no ... impossible) to get good ramen where I am ...sigh!

Lol
french being my native language, you'll often see my "accent" coming out.

groink wrote:

I'm seeing that the Japanese work a lot harder at keeping traditional values, which seem to be helping them keep their families together. As for Americans, though people there would like to keep these same family values and traditions going, it's basically every man and woman for themselves, and family values/traditions become secondary.

sad but true IMO ...
that is one aspect i find attractive from what i know about japanese culture : values preservation.

as for the actual topic, i think the US drama cafe/restaurant is more a waypoint to decide what to do next. I haven't listened J-dramas yet (learning basic language first!) but i get the feeling from the other posts that the food sequence in jdrama cafe/restaurant more often seems the place where there's some development of some sort. I mean where things evolve... ok i' shut up and stop babeling ^^ can't even formulate correctly what i think

i agree with whomever said that asians value food in a way americans value food. in many parts of asia, food is a thing that brings people together, while here in the u.s., food is just a tool to fulfil a hunger.

in cantonese chinese, a "how are you doing?" question asked to someone familiar/friend is literally "Have you eaten yet?" (lay sikchaw fan may ah?)
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niko2x wrote:

i agree with whomever said that asians value food in a way americans value food. in many parts of asia, food is a thing that brings people together, while here in the u.s., food is just a tool to fulfil a hunger. in cantonese chinese, a "how are you doing?" question asked to someone familiar/friend is literally "Have you eaten yet?" (lay sikchaw fan may ah?)

hahaha yea, I speak canto too

I was reading a book about Chinese culture and the author Adeline Yen Mah made a real interesting statement that "Americans eat to live, while Chinese live to eat". Kinda interesting but very true when I look back on my family

eltinator wrote:

hahaha yea, I speak canto too I was reading a book about Chinese culture and the author Adeline Yen Mah made a real interesting statement that "Americans eat to live, while Chinese live to eat". Kinda interesting but very true when I look back on my family

Hmmm. I wonder why that is?

Sweet and sour prawns, Mongolian beef, shrimp fried rice.

vs.

PB & J.

Nope, I just can't understand why food would be more important to the Chinese. It's a mystery.

Geezer wrote:

Nope, I just can't understand why food would be more important to the Chinese. It's a mystery.

It's not just the Chinese... Just about all of the Asian cultures relate food to spirituality and harmony. Even in western biblical times, food represented something spiritual, such as the apple in the Adam & Eve story. However, I don't see food being that much involved, if at all, in western spiritual culture. Most Christians may thank the Lord for the food that's in front of them, but that's really the only spiritual/food thought process they experience.

In Buddism, food is looked upon somewhat as a privilege, while Americans look at it as just something that's out there to digest. Before each meal, the true Buddists will ponder the following five thoughts:

"We must think deeply of the ways and means by which this food has come..."

"We must consider our merit when accepting it..."

"We must protect ourselves from error by excluding greed from our minds..."

"We will eat lest we become lean and die..."

"We accept this food so that we may become enlightened..."

And, there's a saying in Buddism:

When one is identified with the food one eats,
one is identified with the whole universe;
when we are one with the whole universe
we are one with the food we eat.

In other words, the whole universe and a meal are identical in quality.

--- groink

Getting off the True Buddist Spiritualist Appreciation of food, and its oneness with the Universe for a moment...

I notice all the eating scenes in Japanese TV shows largely because, as cool as I think the Japanese are, those eating scenes always remind me of the food challenges in "Fear Factor".

Geezer wrote:

I notice all the eating scenes in Japanese TV shows largely because, as cool as I think the Japanese are, those eating scenes always remind me of the food challenges in "Fear Factor".

Whatsa matter? Don't ya like octopus and eel and SEA URCHIN? (Oh, my!)

By the way, groink, your posts have been very thought-provoking. The second one, in particular, made me do some serious thinking.

I hope the following may be just as thought-provoking. As far as I can tell, the Japanese don't wonder about the eating scenes in their shows anymore than Americans (or anybody else) wonder why every show always has both men and women. Men and women are a part of life and TV shows reflect that. Now, eating is also a part of life, and Japanese shows reflect that. The custom in American, though, is to leave that aspect of life out.
While I don't know why things are that way, I do think that the Japanese place more emphasis on "being" -that is, noticing the stuff around you- while Americans, in general, place more emphasis on "doing" -whether it's religious activity or climbing the socio-economic ladder. I would even hazard a guess that the saying "Stop and smell the roses" doesn't have any equivalent phrase in Japan because they take it for granted. In addition, I'm sure that many people are familiar with just how much care and attention to detail the men as well as the women over there put into the things they make, whether it's cuisine, bonsai, or the pictures in magazines.
So, while this may not be true of all Japanese, I think that, overall, the Japanese definition of "life" just happens to include more of the physical, material world -of which food and eating is a part- than the American.


Gee, this has gotten pretty deep for a thread about food .

Great answer Kyometa!

got this from dvdtalk


click here for foooooood


Details from the site:
6 lb. Burger

Where's the beef? It's at a Pennsylvania pub that serves the world's biggest burger - weighing in at NINE lip-smacking pounds!

That's no whopper - you can actually get this meat monster for $23.95, load with all the "fixins"...

*

Two whole tomatoes
*

A half-head of lettuce
*

12 slices of American cheese
*

A full cup of peppers
*

Two entire onions
*

Plus, a river a mayonnaise, ketchup, and mustard.

Whoa.... That dude has a big mouth....
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damn, that's like good for 1 family.
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Damn that's a huge burger!

The Aho is always hungry!
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Some place a cow is quaking in fear at this photo. And I thought the double double at in-n-out burger was too big.
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In n Out double double?? You need to check out "Islands"... we have them here and there in Sunny So Cal... They make BIG burgers... anyone who has eaten there can vouch for me...
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hmmm im getting hungry
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