Anonymous wrote: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!

+1

Maybe I’m just weak, but it takes an enormous effort to eat healthy in the US. Everything is designed to manipulate us into asking poor, impulsive decisions.

I did not think this thread was about food. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Diet

How much did the meal(s) cost Op?

It's nothing new that good healthy eating doesn't come cheap so if you're a family living paycheck to paycheck or a poor college kid, for example, its cheaper to buy the store-brand version of lucky charms than a bag of grapes. A box of Mac n cheese verse a portion of salmon. A 2 liter of soda verse a gallon of milk. You get the idea.

It's easy to eat fish daily when you're an island nation (and a relatively small one too).

It feels weird to eat veggies for breakfast, but I regularly have a smoothie with fruit and spinach in it, plus a soft boiled egg and whole wheat toast. This is fairly equivalent to veggies, rice, and fish.

We eat grain bowls or salads with lean protein for dinner all the time— just grains, greens, vegetables, nuts, and maybe some cheese or grilled chicken or avocado. Again, this is similar. Also beans and rice.

I just don’t see a huge difference between what OP is describing and my diet, nutritionally? Different flavor profiles but that’s not surprising — different cultures.

Anonymous wrote:What do Japanese people in Japan drink with their breakfast? Just curious, do they do coffee and juice?

I grew up in Japan. I used to drink cold barley tea (mugicha) a lot when I was a kid.

At business hotel breakfast buffets they always have coffee (great coffee), green tea, Western tea bags with hot water, a couple of juices, and water. At a ryokan, they might not have coffee but you can buy it from a vending machine.

Japanese breakfast buffets (at hotels, not ryokan) almost always offer green salad.

Regardless of whether the the cultural associations are accurate or not, it is worth noting how wonderful it feels to eat a really clean diet focused on vegetables and fish. It's really easy to fall into a trap of convenience food - I will definitely admit to it - but I do love it when I refocus on the good stuff. It's like working out - hard to get started, and can be inconvenient in our rushed lives, but then feels awesome!

I have started eating dinner leftovers for breakfast a few times a week. It seems strange, but I really like a hot breakfast - yogurt doesn't always do it for me - and heating up last night's salmon and asparagus in the toaster oven is healthier and tastier than a bowl of oatmeal.

I'm not eating fish for breakfast and I don't even like rice! Good thing I'm not Japanese.

Rice makes many people’s blood sugar spike much higher than many other carbohydrates.

When I taught in Japan I was required to eat school lunches with the kids and I felt like I was eating 1000 calories per meal between the large bowl of rice, jug of milk and then whatever else was served. Dinners could also be caloric if you eat the full bowl of rice plus partake in the Tabe-nomihoudais.

What do Japanese people in Japan drink with their breakfast? Just curious, do they do coffee and juice?

It does really bother me that most meals are only 10% veggies in the US unless you buy a salad.


When I cook recipes I quadruple the veggies.

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

Nailed it.

Anonymous wrote: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.

+1 Ryokans are not representative any more than a hotel buffet is representative of a normal American breakfast. The more traditional Japanese equivalent to fruit and yogurt would be white rice with salted fried salmon. Tasty and filling but not the most perfectly healthy choice in the world.