Explore everyday life in Japan
This is tare-katsudon. It’s a Niigata specialty.
There are many kinds of katsu in Japan, from beef to pork to chicken to shrimp, but this is a special katsu of the local variety. It is made from lightly breaded, slightly tenderized pork cutlets that have been deep-fried and basted with a sweet soy-based sauce before being served over a bowl of rice. The cutlets are crispy, tender, and very, very delicious.
Like all katsu, tare-katsu is a power of food of sorts, and the source of its power comes from the Japanese language itself.
Language often has a peculiar way of influencing our thoughts and the customs we practice. Japanese, perhaps more so though other languages, is especially adept at wordplay and using kanji pictographs to create various meanings out of the many homonyms (similar sounding words) the language has. This wordplay has, in many cases, gone on to create a plethora of long-lasting and sometimes short-lived customs in Japan.
Katsu, or カツ in katakana, one of the three writing systems used in Japan, is an imported word that means cutlet. Another word with the same spelling and pronunciation is written with this kanji, 勝つ. Katsu, when written with this kanji, is a verb that means to win, as in winning a game or a competition. It is one of the words used in Japanese to describe victory.
As a result of this wordplay, eating katsu before a big game, tournament, or challenge has become somewhat of a superstitious custom in Japan to ensure victory. As it is now nearing the end of January, many third-year junior high and high school students are taking their high school and college entrance exams. This means that many students, who want all the help they can get in passing these tests and getting into the schools of their choice, are being fed some form of katsu at home, or are going out to restaurants specifically to eat katsu and power up for their exams.
If you are ever in Japan, and you need a little boost to make sure that your meeting, presentation, game, or performance goes well, just ask somebody where the nearest katsu restaurant is and go eat there.
This is an ongoing series that will explore various aspects of daily life in Japan. My hope is that this series will not only reveal to its followers, image by image, what Japan looks like, but that it will also inform its followers about unique Japanese items and various cultural and societal practices. If you are interested in getting regular updates about life in Japan, please consider following me at @boxcarblue. If you have any questions about life in Japan, please don’t hesitate to ask. I will do my best to answer all of your questions.