I don't think Japanese food is anything special in terms of Asian cuisines and it's only so popular because other Asian cuisines are underrepresented in the west, amirite?

I agree. Ramen (the real japanese type, not the instant type) is seen as something complex and hard to do. Yes, the tradition/correct way of making the broth takes a lot of time and effort. But you can make ramen that's 90% similar with hours of work and a trip to walmart. Is it good? Yes. Is it blown out of proportion? Yes too.

by Western-Desk-8415 8 months ago

I agree. I learned to cook Ramen 2 years ago and now I can make it in 30 minutes excluding making Dashi broth where you need to soak shrooms and sea weed for half an hour. Very easy to make.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Since when? I feel like most of the time Americans imagine ramen as something you eat out of a cup that just came out of the microwave. Sure, if you want to make "real" ramen, it's different, but I don't think that the first image of ramen that comes to most people's minds.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Referring to the 'real ramen', not the 'instant noodle' type. Should've made it clearer

by Western-Desk-8415 8 months ago

Ramen is greasy and salty by default, of course even a simple one tastes good.

by No-Box-6643 8 months ago

None of you guys have actually been to Japan

by Anonymous 8 months ago

I know a Polish person that can literally make sushi in no time

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Not just in food but also in the west their society is often perceived as flawless. I think it has many things that can be adapted in other society but hierarchy and work culture are far worse on the contrary

by Aniya48 8 months ago

What's confusing about that?

by Brigitteschaden 8 months ago

Lol I live in japan and completely agree with this and OP. There's nothing wrong with Japanese food, but I think it is just... uninteresting compared to almost all other Asian food.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Non-weirdo explanation for the popularity of Japanese food in the West: Aside from sushi/sashimi, the signature popular Japanese dishes (karaage, yakiniku, katsu curry, ramen) are all extremely appealing to the Western palette (very strong savoury flavour, comforting, filling) and are only slightly exotic - just enough to be exciting and different but not enough to be a shock/off-putting for most Westerners (very mildly spicy if at all, very few flavours/flavour combinations that Westerners aren't used to).

by Acrobatic-Theme 8 months ago

Yes, I think Japanese food is fairly western palate friendly and isn't exactly known for being spicy. The cuisine also places a great deal of focus on the quality of the individual ingredients and it's really akin to artwork. Often adopting the less is more approach too so it's not really overwhelming. I think it's tasty but my favourite? No. I personally prefer stronger, pungent and spicier dishes. Vietnamese, Indian, west African…give it to me!

by Anonymous 8 months ago

I live in Japan, and foods like karaage, yakiniku, katsu curry, and ramen aren't even considered "washoku" here. Karaage and ramen are considered Chinese, yakiniku Korean, curry Indian, and katsu "Western." The only popular Japanese food that Japanese people agree is uniquely Japanese is probably sushi/sashimi.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Unpopular opinion I agree with. Quite rare

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Same

by Elegant_Occasion_618 8 months ago

I feel like I can't judge because I hate fish and that's a huge part of Japanese cuisine, but personally I'd much rather go to a Chinese, Vietnamese, Indian, or Thai restaurant than a Japanese one.

by Isom14 8 months ago

There are many non-fish dishes in Japanese cuisine. Japanese cuisine isn't just sushi or sashimi.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

But if you try introduce something like the pufferfish or eel (some of my favourites), then people apparently don't like Japanese cuisine as much as they said they do.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

If you like Chinese and Indian get behind Malaysian food. It's a my favorite in SEA

by luisaweimann 8 months ago

Yes! And Singaporean food too. I adored the hawker centres when visiting. So many different cuisines and everything in between. Heaven What I miss greatly though, is kaya toast. Very hard to source it where I am. I should really look into making some of my own.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

It's not really. Eat an entire chicken yakitori then report back.

by Andersonmaybell 8 months ago

Thanks for your input

by Anonymous 8 months ago

You're welcome 🌸

by Isom14 8 months ago

As a SEA, neighbouring SEA countries clear Filipino cuisine especially Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnamese.

by Tall-Doughnut3123 8 months ago

You've clearly never been to the Philipinnes......lovely country and people but food not so much

by CommissionWeary 8 months ago

What makes you think Filipino food is bad? Name some dishes that you think are bad.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Balut, for one.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Filipino food is delicious. I don't know that it's "better" per se, but it's very good

by Minimum_Run 8 months ago

Living in London, there is a huge Chinese food scene, loads of Thai food, good Korean food, Vietnamese, Malaysian and all the rest. I still think Japanese food is delicious (along with the others) . Sushi, Karaage, Miso, Katsu, Udon all hit the spot

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Yes, I don't get the point that Japanese food is over-represented in the West. Here in Glasgow there are far more Chinese, Indian by far, and I wouldn't say there are more Japanese places than e.g. Thai or Korean places. Vietnamese, Indonesian and Malaysian food are under-represented here (though there are examples of all of them) but that's about it.

by Hintzharmony 8 months ago

Even in the US, Chinese restaurants are far more common than Japanese restaurants. It's just that Chinese is usually a takeout food here while Japanese is a sit-in experience. Chinese isn't even looked down on as finding a good Chinese place is an integral American experience.

by AgePsychological6009 8 months ago

Americans thinking they are the center of the earth? No way

by Jerrell79 8 months ago

Seriously, maybe it's just a Queensland thing but I see Japanese stuff everywhere. As an example my local shopping centre has 8 sushi outlets.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Well, as someone also from QLD, I think sushi is everywhere, but actually good Japanese food is much less common than Thai, Chinese, Indian, and even Vietnamese. In every Wld town I've lived in, there's always been one, maybe two Japanese joints that are good, and like 3 or more of each other Asian cuisine. Sushi is super over-represented, though, but those joints usually don't have much else besides maybe some karaage.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

My personal preference (sushi is my favourite food) Japanese>=vietnamese and thai>korean>chinese Others? idk never eaten them

by skylagrimes 8 months ago

Indian food goes hard

by Elegant_Occasion_618 8 months ago

As a Vietnamese person, I think our food is ahead of Japan's, as their dishes are mostly bland (in a good way). However, I might be biased since I eat Vietnamese food every day, but I have to say our food is absolutely amazing. It is very hard to keep my body fit in Vietnam, lol

by Anonymous 8 months ago

I love pho. Its so good

by skylagrimes 8 months ago

What you see as positives, others might find negative. For instance, I dislike Thai food for the different textures they use in some of their dishes. These are what we call opinions. It does not mean someone should deem a country's cuisine not special. I hate Thai food. I hate Indian food. I would never say they are not special just because I would rather eat Korean or Japanese food. That does invalidate things that are special about Thai or Indian food. If you are unable to identify what makes Japanese food special, it's because you are being obtuse. Every countries' cuisine has something that makes it special. Except Britain, unless we want to consider tasteless as being special. /s

by Ykertzmann 8 months ago

I think other Asian countries are just jealous because they got sonned by Japan at some point in their history.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Well, more like angry rather than jealous.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Japan has one of the most overrated cuisines. I think the West is making up for the nuclear bombings by embracing Japanese culture.

by maryseschuster 8 months ago

it's the Asian colonizer country. No wonder the west loves them

by Anonymous 8 months ago

🤓

by nicole18 8 months ago

Yes, the West did and is still doing this because not only is the food overrated, but the culture itself is overrated as well. Things are ridiculously expensive, and YouTubers, especially insiders, inflate it through the roof. For example, they make it sound like katanas are so rare and special, when in reality, they are just as rare as other swords around the world. In fact, I think katanas might even be more common than other swords. They do not inflate other cultures the way they do with Japan and its food, especially sushi. What is even that? Bloody raw fish and some old rice with vinegar? It is a famine food, so why is it considered a delicacy?

by maryseschuster 8 months ago

I mean, first of all, sushi is an acquired taste. Secondly, sushi doesn't require much effort to be tasty, as it is already made by nature. If you have good fish, sushi is good. If you have bad fish, then you have not-so-tasty sushi. Other foods are decent, and their taste could be argued: ramen, mochi, and other foods. But if we gonna compare two different Cusines, such as Afgani or Japanese, Afgani cusine is far tastier than Japanese. Please do not argue on the healthier part cuz Japanese is not Cusine is not that healthy

by maryseschuster 8 months ago

To say one cuisine is objectively better than another is ridiculous. But I would also like to point out that Japanese cuisine has as much variety and flavor as other cuisine, they are just hard to find outside of Japan

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Objectively wrong.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

I actually think Chinese & Thai food is better. Japanese food is really overrated

by Robbiekling 8 months ago

Well well…

by Anonymous 8 months ago

I like Japanese food, but as someone who is a spicy food lover i definitely prefer thai and korean food over Japanese food.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Isn't sushi for example only popular in the United States because of Sun Myung Moon's fascist Christian cult?

by Vaughn48 8 months ago

Okay but sushi wins life. If you told me I had an hour left to live, and then handed me as much sushi as I could eat, I probably wouldn't even grieve.

by Ricobecker 8 months ago

West world tends to deify Far East cuisine and culture just beacause it is so strange and foreign to them. I love having sushi or a good japanese curry but there are Asian and east cuisines way better, eg Thai food. However, Japan is so well into west world, that's why their food is deemed so special ( I can see though Korean food getting hyped recently). For me Japanese cuisine ( especially sushi) is nowhere near as good as European dishes

by Ashamed-Signature117 8 months ago

I'd take a solid Thai curry over most anything. Especially with fried duck.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Ehh I'm southeast Asian and my area has tons of representation of all types of Asian food ranging anywhere from authentic cheap hole in the walls that sell nothing but cheung fan to high end Michelin star Thai restaurants, and Japanese food is still one of my favorites. The flavor profiles are just different.

by raynorfranz 8 months ago

EXACTLY

by Difficult_Sir5701 8 months ago

weebs, Japanese food became popular because of weebs. they're used to eating Cheetos so any actual food would seem amazing to them.

by Altruistic-Name 8 months ago

You need to clarify if you're talking about Japanese cuisine in _____ (insert country), food in Japan, or Japanese cuisine in Japan. There are plenty of people online who rave about food in Japan, because it is kind of special compared to somewhere in the USA. I rarely see people online say they think Japanese cuisine (outside of Japan) is superior to other cuisines.

by johnstonakeem 8 months ago

I don't disagree that Japanese "isn't the best" (I'd choose many other cuisines over it, though I do love sushi), but are other Asian cuisines really all that underrepresented? Where I grew up in the US, there were hardly any Japanese restaurants nearby. There was a much stronger presence of Thai, Indian, and Chinese food. In another city I lived in, Vietnamese and Lebanese restaurants had a stronghold. And talking about the west as a whole, I'm currently in the UK, where curry (which is of Indian origin) is pretty much the premier national dish. Incidentally, I don't think I've run into anyone claiming Japanese food is the best, certainly not objectively so. Everyone I know loves ramen, though.

by MammothCountry 8 months ago

Dude, Korean and Chinese Food are everywhere in the West!

by Anonymous 8 months ago

I love Japanese cuisine, but I agree that it's overhyped in comparison to all other Asian Cusines. The Japanese cuisine available in the west is also fairly limited imo. The best Japanese food has to offer is hard to find outside of Japan which is a shame.

by Stoltenbergrafa 8 months ago

Most of those people only know sushi, that's why, but my favourite is chinese food, or at least what's sold on the Westner World

by Anonymous 8 months ago

In England it's really not like this. If anything japanese is under represented here. Thai/Indian/Chinese are way more popular and wide-spread.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

I agree but I also think many traditional japanese foods are underrepresented. Ramen, sushi, miso soup and maybe japanese curry are definitely not the only and definitely not the best japanese dishes.

by TheseFan5496 8 months ago

I can grant you Japanese is overrated but Thai, Chinese, and maybe even Vietnamese these days are not at all underrepresented, IMO.

by Lakinotto 8 months ago

Partially agreed, 'mainstream' Japanese cuisine can be bland, overpriced, and lacks variety in small portions—but for true authenticity, you'd need to try it in Japan, which I haven't, so I'll reserve full judgment. (Please try Malaysian and Indonesian cuisine; they're uniquely distinct from other Asian foods imo)

by Legitimate_Pop8876 8 months ago

Literally never heard anyone make a claim that Japanese food is the best Asian cuisine. This is a non-problem.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

In Australia, the popularity of these cuisines to western diners is basically proportionate to the size of that population in the country. Eg. from most popular to least: Chinese, Vietnamese, Malaysian, Indian, Thai; Japanese is lower down on the list, and not really more expensive, desired, or respected over the others. Most people will buy food court sushi to go, but will then have a white tablecloth Chinese banquet. Australians are also as likely to handmake sushi for their kids lunchboxes as they are to make a Pad Thai for dinner, if not more.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Hmm as a broad cuisine I agree. However it's tricky to say that because I think quality ramen in Japan is a dish with more depth of flavour than any other Asian dish I've ever tried, and I have lived and travelled extensively in Asia.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

I've never ever seen anyone glaze Japanese food like that. A lot of people, including their natives, consider most of it bland. I think they're one of the best at seafood though. Honestly, this is a bit of a weird take to me, maybe because I don't interact with that many weebs I guess so I don't get it. I would think most Americans would go for american-chinese or thai tbh.

by Dortha48 8 months ago

You've never seen the Japan is living in 2050 memes?

by Elegant_Occasion_618 8 months ago

No. The most I interact with Japanese people is in manga communities but I don't see too much about them outside of that.

by Dortha48 8 months ago

I can agree it's not a majority. But I never see anything about asian food that isn't Japanese or Indian

by Elegant_Occasion_618 8 months ago

Who mentioned spiciness? I don't even care for spicy food. Besides in the Tao Te Ching they mention eating bland food is good for the spirit. It's not an insult.

by Dortha48 8 months ago

The thing that Japanese cuisine does better than other cuisines is steal dishes, make a slight change for the better and pass them off as their own.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

As if Japanese cuisine is the only cuisine that steals dishes. Thai, Vietnamese, Middle-Eastern, and many other cuisines also do the same thing as Japanese

by Anonymous 8 months ago

My use of the word "better" is the linguistic clue to me never claiming that Japanese cuisine is the only cuisine that steals dishes.

by Anonymous 8 months ago

Absolutely

by Anonymous 8 months ago

I mean, it is unfair to judge a cuisine by eating a gas station version of a food that is best served fresh That is like saying Italian cuisine sucks because I don't like frozen pizzas Personally, Japanese cuisine isn't the best, but I find Korean cuisine to be the most overrated nowadays, but I am biased being Indian and preferring a stronger flavor and taste

by Anonymous 8 months ago