Fast food culture killing Japanese cuisine

Chef Yoshihiro Murata laments what he calls the loss of traditional Japanese cuisine in his home country.

It’s been “polluted,” he says, by the invasion of fast food restaurant chains from the US and abroad, feeding young people foods like “hamburgers, curry, and spaghetti,” he says through his translator with a look of disdain.

Murata, a triple Michelin-starred chef at Kikunoi in Kyoto, is speaking to Relaxnews in an interview before cooking a special luncheon in December at the Plaza Athénée in Paris at the invitation of one of France’s chef titans, Alain Ducasse.

He was one of four international chefs cherry-picked by the French chef for being a disciple of Ducasse’s own culinary philosophy, one that calls for simple, honest cookery that puts the spotlight back on the ingredients -- and away from the chef.

Murata is also widely described as a champion of traditional Japanese cuisine for the outside world, a chef Ducasse praises for having succeeded in striking a balance between creating contemporary cuisine and maintaining a deferential respect for his Japanese culinary heritage.

'Japan's loss of culinary identity'

But the culinary landscape in Japan has changed dramatically over the years, Murata tells Relaxnews, with US fast food chains exerting an unhealthy influence over young people in his country and eroding Japan’s rich culinary traditions, he said.

“There’s been a real loss in the Japanese culinary identity,” Murata said through his translator. “We have a lot of work to do in re-educating Japanese people on the culinary traditions. We have to return to our roots and origins.”

But it’s not a phenomenon exclusive to Japan, he adds. Other countries face the same culinary crisis, where multi-national fast food chains have made a negative impact on a nation’s gastronomic identity. With, perhaps, the notable exception of one country, he says: France.

“I have great respect for the French because they value their culinary traditions and gastronomic heritage.”

But even in France, the proliferation and increasing popularity of fast food brands like McDonald’s and Belgian burger brand Quick have become a growing concern, particularly in regard to the impact on the health and food culture of younger generations.

'Japanese phenomenon'

Meanwhile, though Japan may be facing an onslaught of Westernized and foreign influences to what Murata says is the detriment of the country’s culinary traditions, the outside world has experienced an epicurean awakening of Japanese cuisine for the past few decades, with sushi eateries popping up in all corners of the developed world.

And while some lament what’s been described as the cheapening of sushi with fast food joints and the factory production of Japan’s signature food, Murata remained positive about its popularity, happy to see his country’s cuisine proliferate around the world.

“We need to let the movement roll out and continue. It may not be good sushi, but then good chefs will fan out into the world and educate consumers on what real, authentic Japanese food tastes like.”