Japanese Food Culture

Japanese Food Culture – ‘Ushi’ or ‘Unagi’? 牛か鰻か？’Day of The OX’

今年の土用（どよう）の丑（うし）の日は7月23日と8月4日です。夏バテにならないようにこの日によく「うなぎ」を食べますが、「うしの日」にちなんで焼く肉をする人もいます。みなさんはどちらが好きですか。

‘Doyo no ushi no hi (Day of the OX) ‘is July 23^rd and August 4^th in 2022. People often eat ‘unagi (eel)’ on these days in order to prevent from summer fatigue in Japan. But also ‘ushi (cow/beef)’ is popular for ‘yakiniku (indoor BBQ) from the name of the day. Which would you like? I am sorry to talk about this if you are a vegetarian…

今年は季節が秋に変わるのが8月7日で、土用はその前の18日間を指します。日本のカレンダーには12支のひとつが毎日あり、この18日間で12支の丑の日が「土用の丑の日」と呼ばれます。ちなみに丑の日の前の日は「ねずみの日」で、次の日は「とらの日」です。（ウィキ参照）

‘Doyo’ indicates the 18 days before the arrival of the new season (autumn) and it will be August 7^th in 2022. Day of  ‘ushi’ are called ‘ushi no hi’ and the ones during the 18 days are called ‘Doyo no ushi no hi’. Every single day is one of the 12 animals called ‘12shi’ on Japanese calendar. And the day before ‘ushi no hi’ is ‘nezumi (mouse) no hi’ and the day after is ‘tora (tiger) no hi’ for example. (wiki)

よく「土用の丑の日」に「う」で始まる食べ物を食べるといいと言われています。「うなぎ」や「うし」を食べるほうが特別な感じでにんきんがありますが、もちろん、「うどん」や「うめぼし」などもいいそうです。

People believe that it is good to eat food starting with ‘u’ on ‘Doyo no ushi no hi’. Therefore, ‘unagi’ and ‘ushi’ are popular but you can also have ‘udon’ and ‘umeboshi (sour plum) as vegetarian options.

ところで、オランダ人の生徒から聞いたんですが、オランダ料理の一つに「うなぎ」があるんですね。オランダに旅行に行った時に食べましたが、塩コショウとレモン汁で食べた「うなぎ」は日本の「うなぎのかば焼」とちがって、「うなぎ」を食べた感じがしませんでした。かば焼のたれが「うなぎ」だと思い込んでいるようです。

By the way, my student from the Netherlands suggested to try their ‘unagi’ dish when I went there on holiday. I tried it and it was simply cooked with salt and pepper with a dash of lemon juice. I realised that ‘unagi’ for me was the taste of the special source called ‘kabayaki’ and salt and pepper did not make me taste ‘unagi’ after all. I am sure that I really do not know the real ‘unagi’ flavour…

みなさんの国では「うなぎ」を食べますか。7月23日に食べなかった人は8月4日に食べてみてください。今回は日本の季節と食文化についてなにか学びがあったら嬉しいです。

Do you eat ‘unagi’ in your country? Would you like to have ‘u’-dishes on August 4^th if you missed on July 23^rd? I hope you have learnt something new about Japanese food culture related to the new season.

Mineko Arai

Managing Director

Arai Academy of Japanese Studies

masterspeakingjapanese.com/blog

araiacademy.com