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PaperclipPerfector  9mo ago (text post)   29037 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of August 7, 2023

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Japanese food is boring and unpleasant to eat. Most of it, most of the time anyway. Easily the worst culinary experience of any country I've visited. I'm just not into raw fish or weird fish parts. For vegetarians it's even worse. Westernised sushi is great but is only superficially similar to "real" sushi.

I don't think this explains why Japan is thin; that would be the society wide state-sponsored social shaming. Men with a waistline over 33.5" face penalties & are forced into counselling sessions. Companies with too many fat employees can be fined. This is not height or race adjusted. I know a tall white man living in Japan who would be considered exceptionally fit by Western standards, struggling to keep his waistline down to that level. He'll likely need to emigrate next year.

Westernised sushi is great but is only superficially similar to "real" sushi.

Not to me. There is nothing more disgusting than shoving cream cheese next to cold rice and raw salmon. OTOH, remove that cream cheese and paint a small amount of actually fermented soy onto the salmon, and you have a real treat.

Still, Japan has lots of stuff that should theoretically make you fat. Tempura, ramen/soba/udon, takoyaki, mochi, plenty of alcoholic beverages like beer, whiskey, sake, etc.

There is nothing more disgusting than shoving cream cheese next to cold rice and raw salmon.

I think that fad started in Japan. "Japan has finally discovered cheese" as my friend put it 3 or 4 years ago. Possibly starting with a cheese flavoured Kitkat, of all things, and then they tried it in everything.

Personally I much prefer westernized smoked salmon and avocado nori roll, than authentic raw salmon nigiri. I was a big fan of westernized Japanese food, so was looking forward to trying the "real thing" and came away disappointed. (As opposed to Thailand, which exceeded my expectations). But yes this is all tangential to the point, there's surely enough unhealthy food in Japan that you could get fat if you wanted to.

There's no mystery to how Japan stays thin. Draconian government enforcement. Being fat in Japan is literally illegal. That's all there is to it. I... don't think that would work in the west (and sincerely hopes noone tries!).

I suppose you can register my diametrically opposite reaction to Japanese food vs faux Japanese food. California rolls are downright nauseating and an abomination, while — staying entirely away from raw fish and weird fish parts and only confining myself to seafood — eel kabayaki; stewed/grilled/steamed/pickled mackerel/amberjack/sea bream/other fish species; seafood tempura; oshizushi with cooked fish…all of those sans oshizushi are quite mainstream even in the west, and most if not all should suit a western palate.

I’d also add that vegetarian food in Japan and China has been enormously better than vegetarian food I have had in the west. A dinner I had at a Buddhist abbot’s house in Kyushu was easily the best vegetarian food I’d had in my life (adding that I’ve been to Buddhist gatherings and houses and temples exactly twice in my life, and I didn’t eat that other time).

Salmon wasn’t even used as a raw fish originally (or anything more than seafood filler; it is not traditionally popular in Japan), only appearing in Japan in the 90s. To this day I still think it is a rather inferior sashimi/sushi fish. A good tuna with a well-made nikiri would have been a better experience.

There are other reasons other than food and Japan fining the shit out of fat people (which, in fact, Japan does not do on a personal basis) for the Japanese staying thin, though. Walking from one place to another is quite normalized, for one.

(and sincerely hopes noone tries!).

Why?

Personally I much prefer westernized smoked salmon and avocado nori roll,

Eww. Although you and my wife would agree.

I just want salted fish with umami added when I want sushi. If I want cheese, I'll do pasta TYVM.

Why?

Generically, because of the importance of personal liberty etc. Insert standard libertarian talking points here.

On a more personal level, I'm fat and not particularly bothered about it. The pleasure I derive from eating chocolate far outweighs my weight. I don't think it's something I can change - I can eat much worse than I do now and not gain any more weight, or I can try to starve myself and be hungry and grumpy until my willpower runs out and I walk to a 24 hour convenience store in the middle of the night to buy chocolate, and not lose any weight. Having a government agent step in to keep me perpetually hungry and grumpy sounds like a dystopian nightmare.

Well I stand corrected about never hearing complaints about Japanese food. On my visit to Japan, the food tasted fine. And if it isn't the food but the shaming, then fat shaming does work then.

Companies with too many fat employees can be fined.

Sounds good, or at least better than our approach of 'companies with too many white employees can be fined'. I recall a case of black NYC teachers getting a big payout because they failed a test that too many whites passed.

This kind of top down enforcement is rarely desirable, though. I know plenty of guys at work who could probably be categorised as overweight based on crude heuristics like waist size or BMI. They're the same guys that I want with me when it's time to load the truck.

Sure. That's probably true; however, visceral fat is still unhealthy. Although a few extra pounds is mostly OK. Swole people also know who they are.

Maybe they do, but does the government know? Or care, since there's some evidence that carrying a lot of muscle is also harmful to longevity?

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