Divide meals at home, there are more plates than plates.
The reporter once received a gift called "couple's cup", one big and one small, one gray and one white, so he gave the big one to his husband and the small one for his own use. In Japan, there are many similar things between couples, such as "couple chopsticks" and "couple bowls". Visiting a friend's house, the reporter found that everyone's teacups are for personal use.
Japanese eating habits were developed from childhood. After World War II, primary schools in Japan began to provide students with free lunches, all of which were divided into meals. Public tableware is separated from personal tableware, and students' tableware is strictly disinfected every day. Children form this habit and naturally have a separate dining system when they get home. Since 1980s, the system of separate meals has become quite popular in Japanese families. Japanese families have a large number of plates and saucers, almost all Japanese families have sideboards, and tableware of different colors and styles is filled with sideboards. There are many kinds of Japanese food. When having dinner at a friend's house, the reporter found that the hostess divided each dish into small plates, one for each person, so four people ate five dishes, and the plates already accounted for 20.
Japanese food, order it yourself and eat it yourself.
Japanese people eat in restaurants and eat separately. The set meal at the banquet is based on one person, one dish for each dish, so after a banquet, the stomach may not be full, but many dishes have been used. When Japanese treat guests, they sometimes ask guests to order their favorite meals and eat them themselves. They are satisfied with each other and do not blend with each other. Once a friend invited me to dinner, and the reporter ordered sashimi. The reporter's husband likes to eat hot food such as fried shrimp, but the Japanese friend ordered sushi, and three people ate their own food.
Of course, in some small Japanese restaurants, such as izakaya, several people share a dish, but the restaurant will deliver public chopsticks in time, and everyone will put the food into their own small plates with public chopsticks, and then put it into their mouths with their own chopsticks.
Chinese food should be tasted first, and then divided.
In order to adapt to Japanese eating habits, Japanese Chinese restaurants also adopt Japanese-style dining methods. No matter in Tokyo or Yokohama, most Chinese restaurants have implemented Japanese service, that is, a large dish is served, and the waiter will put it on the round table for the guests to "taste" first, that is, to have a look. After that, the waiter will take the dishes down and divide them into small portions for the guests to eat, and in order to prevent different dishes from mixing on the plates, a new small plate will be used when serving.
Mr. Zeng Deshen, President of Overseas Chinese Association in Yokohama, said that it is natural for Chinese food to be divided into meals. Facts have proved that this dining habit is scientific and hygienic, and it has further promoted the popularization of Chinese food in Japan.