It's all about FOOD!

I love my weekends in Japan. They are times when I can hang out in some of the most fantastic cities in the world. Sightseeing in Kyoto on Friday, shopping in Osaka on Saturday, party in Kobe on Saturday night. And if I'm feeling adventurous, I may stray further afield to Nara, Gifu, Tokyo and even all the way up in the Tohoku region (not an easy thing to do in one weekend!)

But whenever I come back from these places and tell my Japanese coworkers about it, I guarantee that this conversation will ensue:

Me: "Hi! I went to (insert Japanese city here) this weekend."
JapCo: Oh really? Did you eat (food these cities are famous for)?

From black beans to okonomiyaki, it seems that every single town and city in Japan boasts a famous food that you absolutely MUST eat when you visit. In fact sometimes when I've been out with Japanese friends, finding and eating this famous food is often first on their list of priorities. Which is probably why when I admit that I didn't try them when I went off sightseeing, they look disappointed and the conversation dies there before I can tell them about the other things I saw.

For a nation that boasts the lowest obesity rate in the world, it is astonishing how preoccupied they all are with food. When the Olympics ended this summer, British gold medalists appeared on daytime TV programmes to give interviews or hand out prizes on kids shows. What did the Japanese medalists do? They appeared on late night shows and were asked to eat increasingly bizarre foods while the panel of hosts "oohed" and "aahed" impressively. And when current celebrities aren't stuffing themselves, it's the regular hosts who regularly wolf down various foods while the audience and misc make the appropriate noises, as though food is an entirely new concept to them.

Whenever I turn on the TV, I can guarantee there's a cooking show on one of the main channels. One of the first questions I am always asked is "what Japanese food do you like?" And everyone is always impressed that I can cook for myself.

Now don't get me wrong, I like food and Japanese food is delicious, but I'd rather talk about the beautiful temples and buildings I visited. So please don't stop talking to me just because I wasn't hungry!