Explore everyday life in Japan
If you come to Japan to live for any amount of time, your kitchen will probably look something like this, a single countertop that runs the length of one wall and has a sink on one side, a range of some sort on the other, and a very small space for cutting or drying dishes in the middle.
Granted, designer kitchens, kitchens that have been designed around an island or on the backside of a dining counter, are becoming more popular in newer and remodeled homes in Japan, and the ranges and accessories that are installed in these kitchens are becoming nicer and more modern, but I venture to say that the typical kitchen in Japan still looks a lot like this and makes use of four main pieces of equipment: a two burner gas range that looks to me more like a cumbersome and oversized camp stove, a rice cooker, a hot water pot, and something called a dench range, which manages to double as both a microwave and an oven.
Considering the amount of amazing food that comes from Japan, when I first came here, I was totally surprised by the lack of preparation space and cooking equipment in the typical Japanese kitchen. Coming from America, having a large oven with a broiler, a four burner stove, and counter space for keeping mixers, food processors, and possibly even a microwave on seemed necessary to me. Without these things, I thought, how would I cook? Needless to say, the food that I have come to cook regularly in Japan is different from the food that I used to cook when I lived in America. Likewise, the customs surrounding food preparation that I have become accustomed to in Japan are also quite different from the customs that I assumed to be normal when living in America.
I think it could be said that a typical kitchen, its design and layout, and the utensils that are found in it, reflects the society and the culture that produces it. In Japan, the lack of a large, and in my opinion adequate oven, and the reliance on two burners to produce most of the food in a household is a reflection of a cuisine that has been developed over centuries, a cuisine that often requires dishes to be slowly simmered in advance and set aside to be later served either chilled or at room temperature. The demand for food to be served all at once and piping hot that I grew up with in America simply does not exist in Japan. Tables are often set in the order that dishes are completed, and generally, everyone waits until the last dish is set on the table, the drinks are poured, and everyone is seated before the meal begins.
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.