Comparative Study of Japanese and Western Dishware

Japan, my home country, and Europe are located on almost opposing sides of the earth, and they have very dissimilar cultures. From my experience of growing up in Japan and coming to America for high school years, I have discovered many interesting differences and similarities between Western and Japanese cultures. It raised my interest in studying Japanese culture by comparing it with Western culture. (The term "Western" refer to both America and Europe, and it does not mean "American".)

 

Especially, I got interested in the differences between their dishware cultures. In this study, I aimed to understand how Japanese dishware culture has been shaped by comparing and analyzing Japanese and Western dishware. I use the word "dishware" to distinguish it from food, and it means plates, bowls, and other containers used when eating. I often used Europe to compare with Japan because a big portion of Western culture comes from Europe. Dishware is used by everyone every day and is imperative to our daily lives. Although the purpose of using dishware is mostly the same in both Japan and West, they are actually very different in many aspects.

 

Through analysis of why Japanese dishware culture was formed to be distinctly different from Western culture, I found many interesting factors that led Japanese dishware culture to become as it is. This website hopes to share about the passage of Japanese dishware and Japanese dishware itself which not many people know about.