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In
the early 1970s, Hiroko Kajimura and Yasuko Munekata relocated with their
scientist husbands and families to Tsukuba Science City, located approximately
30 miles northeast of Tokyo. Before moving to Tsukuba, they both experienced
living overseas with their families—Mrs. Kajimura in Westchester
County, New York, and Mrs. Munekata in Heidelberg, Germany. Mrs. Kajimura
is the mother of two grown children and a longtime volunteer teaching Japanese
to foreign researchers and their families at Tsukuba University. Mrs. Munekata
is the mother of three grown children, a grandmother, and leader of various
Catholic church volunteer groups in Tsukuba.
1. Thoughts on Natural Foods, Beef, and Food Safety
2.More on Beef
3.
Importance of Rice in Everyday Life
4.
Generational Differences; Rice and Bread
5.
Japanese and Foreign Food
 
More
on Beef
Larzalere:What is the average cost of beefsteak?
Mrs. K: When I buy beef, I usually get around 100
to 150 grams [.22-.33 lbs.]--100 grams is around 600
yen
[$5.70 US]. It's already prepackaged where I buy it.
Mrs. M: When I buy it at the Kasumi store in town
[local supermarket chain], it costs 880 yen [$8.35
US] for
100 grams of the cheaper cut of beef. When I get it
at the local butcher it's around 2,000 yen [approximately,
$19 US] but it's a better cut of beef.
L: When I went
to Seibu department store the other day, I noticed
a large display of wagyû [type of high-grade
Japanese beef] on sale. Is that for special occasions
or for everyday consumption?
Mrs. K: Wagyû? It's
not particularly special--I don't buy it at the department
store.
L: Is wagyû only eaten on special occasions
at home?
Mrs. K: No, some people only eat wagyû.
Not so much recently, but in old times.
L: I just wondered
because I noticed that there are wagyû cuts of
beef prominently on display at places like Seibu.
Mrs.
K: There are many different cuts of wagyû. It
depends on the dish to be prepared such as yakiniku [grilled meat]--the high fat content is importance
for such dishes.
L: Do you cook naizô [offal]
at home?
Mrs. K: No, I don't.
Mrs. M: No.
L: Although
it was labeled as “pre-banned beef,” I
was surprised to see Canadian beef offal being sold
in the wholesale market in Tsukuba.
Mrs. K: Perhaps,
it's being sold to foreigners such as the Brazilians
who are living here in Tsukuba.
L: With the outbreak
of BSE and the ban on the import of U.S. beef to Japan,
do you think that beef is considered impure and "outside" and
such things as rice, as a domestic product, may be
considered "pure" and inside?
Mrs. K: Yes--that
is perhaps that case--but at one time fish was marketed
heavily. I recall when the fish merchants and companies
marketed a song about fish and promoted how fish was
healthy to eat and good for one's health. The supermarkets
used to have it blaring in the stores.
Mrs. M: Yes,
children used to sing to it and knew the fish song
by heart!
Mrs. K: Something like "sakana, sakana.
. . . " [fish, fish]. It was promoted a lot a
few years ago. We heard it all the time over the loudspeakers
at the supermarkets while we shopped. It's like a kind
of propaganda! And with all the BSE problems, people
were more inclined to buy fish. It's a kind of brainwashing
by the merchants and companies. Next: Importance
of Rice in Everyday Life
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