No question the Japanese diet is healthier, but the traditional Japanese breakfast is mostly for tourists at this point. I lived in Japan years ago. When I stayed at a Ryokan the Japanese guests were all having the western breakfast!

Also the western breakfast you describe is a special occasion breakfast for most people. I eat yogurt, fruit or oatmeal most days.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I eat smoked salmon and avocado for breakfast. I eat it on bread but now that you mention it, it would be so much more healthy to eat it with rice. Unfortunately I don't have time to make rice in the morning and I don't like reheated rice.

Rice isn’t necessary healthier than bread, it depends on the bread. Both are high in starch and carbohydrates which are not particularly healthy without fiber and fat.

Also, pp who eats fruit and yoghurt and rye toast, I’m willing to bet you aren’t a native US citizen.

Fruit and yogurt is an incredibly common American breakfast. It’s what my parents typically ate growing up in the US.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I eat smoked salmon and avocado for breakfast. I eat it on bread but now that you mention it, it would be so much more healthy to eat it with rice. Unfortunately I don't have time to make rice in the morning and I don't like reheated rice.

Rice isn’t necessary healthier than bread, it depends on the bread. Both are high in starch and carbohydrates which are not particularly healthy without fiber and fat.

Also, pp who eats fruit and yoghurt and rye toast, I’m willing to bet you aren’t a native US citizen.

I'm the Japanese poster from upthread. I agree that brown rice isn't all that (if you don't wash it super well, it has arsenic, for a start); there is mercury and other heavy metals in large predator or long-lived fish like tuna and mackerel; and farm fish or fish near contaminated waters have a problem with antibiotics and PCBs. I prefer a Mediterranean diet myself, with select fish. Less cooking time!

Anonymous wrote:I eat smoked salmon and avocado for breakfast. I eat it on bread but now that you mention it, it would be so much more healthy to eat it with rice. Unfortunately I don't have time to make rice in the morning and I don't like reheated rice.

smoked salmon is not something you should eat daily -- its carcinogen profile is similar to bacon and hot dogs.

This is a good observation, OP. That’s a good reminder to do better!

Anonymous wrote:I eat smoked salmon and avocado for breakfast. I eat it on bread but now that you mention it, it would be so much more healthy to eat it with rice. Unfortunately I don't have time to make rice in the morning and I don't like reheated rice.

Rice isn’t necessary healthier than bread, it depends on the bread. Both are high in starch and carbohydrates which are not particularly healthy without fiber and fat.

Also, pp who eats fruit and yoghurt and rye toast, I’m willing to bet you aren’t a native US citizen.

I eat smoked salmon and avocado for breakfast. I eat it on bread but now that you mention it, it would be so much more healthy to eat it with rice. Unfortunately I don't have time to make rice in the morning and I don't like reheated rice.

You may like this book, OP:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/japanese-women-dont-get-old-or-fat-naomi-moriyama/1102807811

Oh man you are staying cheap! My places always busted out the basashi for breakfast.

I am Japanese and LOVE to be treated to traditional cuisine.

BUT.

This is not how the majority of Japanese eat today. Everywhere in industrialized nations, people are tending towards the US model of fatty and sugary convenience foods, because they have busy lives and don't have the time to cook lengthy meals.

Do you know how long it takes to make a traditional Japanese meal? Or a traditional meal in many other countries? It takes hours. All the vegetables have to be peeled, prepared, slow-cooked just so, the broth is flavored and takes its own time to make, the fish is traditionally charcoaled-grilled (need to prepare the charcoal so it heats at the right temp), etc...

Such cuisines around the world harken back to when kitchens lacked all modern conveniences and women and girls stayed home and where near enough to the house that something could simmer all day. Women went to the market every day for fresh vegetables. Indeed, my grandmother would go every day, so she could make and eat fresh food daily. No eating wilted produce 5 days after the weekend grocery shopping!

We all try to eat as healthy as we can in the short time we want to dedicate to cooking, but it can't be the Ryokan spread all the time.

Gosh people are so nasty here. Sorry about that, OP. I think it’s a useful insight because a lot of us forget what the real baseline for food consumption should be!

I agree with OP, she’s trying to make a point though. She’s not literally eating all those foods herself every day, she’s saying those are traditional foods a lot of Americans eat and we shouldn’t be. Sugary cereal, donuts, waffles, all marketed to our kids as breakfast foods. We don’t eat them as breakfast in our house but I know a lot of people do.

Naive tourist makes broad generalizations about Japanese culture after 2 night stay at luxury Ryokan

I've been feeding my kids veggies for breakfast since they were babies.

Traveling through Japan and eating at a Ryokan for 2 meals - dinner and breakfast - and you really recognize how our food in the west is poison. For breakfast, the traditional Japanese course was basically all vegetables of some sort, plus one tiny bit of fish, and a little bit of rice. Dinner was fish, nearly all vegetables and one course of beef that was probably less than 3 ounces. No wonder Japanese people love forever and with relatively good health. And here I'm thinking about the breakfast we'd consume back home, which would be something like pancakes, bacon, eggs, sausage, refined cereals, and so much other sugar laced foods full of carbs and fat. I almost felt like my body was detoxing after two weeks on a traditional Japanese diet. So much lighter feeling.