yukio_michael said:The other thing though, about recycling, is that Japan seems to produce a lot of excess in packaging. You can often buy candy or sweets, crackers, cookies, that sort of thing and you'll find that sometimes each individual cookie itself is wrapped--- I thought this was genius for saltine-crackers, because they always get stale, but for that they ususally put them in pack of 5 or 6... still, a single individually wrapped cookie is a bit much.
The United States has in the past 10 yeas made decent strides in reducing excess packaging.ullvarg said:This ain't really a exclusive Japan problem, the rest of the western world do this to a pretty extensive length too.
yukio_michael said:The United States has in the past 10 yeas made decent strides in reducing excess packaging.
Packaging in the United States for food goods is no where near the excess to what Japan practices, in fact I'd say the idea of things being individually wrapped is fairly frowned upon, and rare--- notably it is similar on say--- consumer electronics, household items etc.
On the other hand, in Japan you are usually garunteed to pay more money to get less. Say 99 yen for 3 slices of ham. Every three slices of ham, you have excess packaging. There is no food or goods in 'bulk', so you really cant reduce packaging by buying more of it for less.
In fact the entire idea of saving money by buying more in Japan is anathema. The only way to save money in Japan, is not to spend it, I suppose.
That bothers me too. Everything comes in about 5 times as much packaging as you actually need.yukio_michael said:The other thing though, about recycling, is that Japan seems to produce a lot of excess in packaging. You can often buy candy or sweets, crackers, cookies, that sort of thing and you'll find that sometimes each individual cookie itself is wrapped--- I thought this was genius for saltine-crackers, because they always get stale, but for that they ususally put them in pack of 5 or 6... still, a single individually wrapped cookie is a bit much.
I think that you originaly said something about disposable chopsticks, and then maybe I branched off on that about recycling, and so on and so on...nurizeko said:Though, moving on to my next point, how does this relate to chopsticks?.
yukio_michael said:The United States has in the past 10 yeas made decent strides in reducing excess packaging.
Packaging in the United States for food goods is no where near the excess to what Japan practices, in fact I'd say the idea of things being individually wrapped is fairly frowned upon, and rare--- notably it is similar on say--- consumer electronics, household items etc.
On the other hand, in Japan you are usually garunteed to pay more money to get less. Say 99 yen for 3 slices of ham. Every three slices of ham, you have excess packaging. There is no food or goods in 'bulk', so you really cant reduce packaging by buying more of it for less.
In fact the entire idea of saving money by buying more in Japan is anathema. The only way to save money in Japan, is not to spend it, I suppose.
nurizeko said:japanese idea of bread is 6 slices in a bag
BamaFan2989 said:Hey guys! I have a question. Do you eat everything with chopsticks? I was just wondering. Also, what is Somen. I would appreciate if there were any suggestions about chopsticks.
I know this post sounds noobish, but I was wondering.
celtician said:Chopsticks are for picking up large objects like a chunk of meat/fish but I prefer the more sensible Thai way of Spoon & Fork when dealing with noodles or something wet and small. Think about it chopsticks are primitive!
Since I haven't seen many Japanese chopsticks, I can't really judge the difference. But I have seen quite a number of Chinese chopsticks, from heavy duty ones in a posh restaurant to the cheapest stuff in some small takeaway. There doesn't really seem to be one favoured style.godppgo said:There are two main types of chopstick. The Chinese and Japanese ones.
The Chinese ones are longer and has a wider tip due to the fact that Chinese eat alot of meat and need a chopstick that can perform "heavey duty" task such as dissecting a big piece of meat. The longer length also helps in exerting more force (moment).
Mars Man said::My Japanese students think it funny that I use a fork for eating curry rice though, instead of a spoon.
godppgo said:I am always wondering about something. When I go eat at some Japanese or Chinese place, I always see some westerners trying to eat fried rice with chopstick. Is it just that they felt pressured to do it because they are dining at an asian restaurant?
Mars Man said:Maybe to show off?