Itadakimasu: A word you say to the food, not the cook

ssurprisetalk about 3 hours ago 27 commentsRead Article on thetokyohermit.substack.com

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Discussion (27 Comments)Read Original on HackerNews

ASalazarMX•1 minute ago

We've always thanked the cook, specially if it's a homemade meal. Sometimes I wish we showed some respect for the things that died so we could live, but food is so plentiful nowadays that we can't show respect to everything, and some things are so unnaturally ultraprocessed that they don't deserve any respect.

syockit•about 1 hour ago

Fun trivia: the greeting only started to become a thing during the Meiji era as part of moral and ethics education. It may be argued that it has its roots in Buddhist teachings, but there's a theory that the drive to make it a common household practice may have come from the envoys who came back from western countries and saw the Christian prayer and thought it was a good thing to imitate. It's quite a stretch, but personally I find it quite interesting given that it was an era where Westernization was the craze.

mindtricks•14 minutes ago

If true, kudos to them for shrinking it all down to one word. Saying "grace" can be an event to itself at some meals.

kurthr•7 minutes ago

Good food, good meat, good god, let's eat!

buildingsramen•about 1 hour ago

I feel like this is intellectualizing something that isn't that deep. It's a word you say, not think about. Why do English speakers say "excuse me" after a sneeze? The answer is apocryphal and uninteresting.

arjie•about 1 hour ago

Haha, I think it's more like an article about "Goodbye" originating from "God be with ye". That part is interesting - a curiosity. However, I do wish there was more about the history of the term, especially that it's a 20th Century national formalization of meal ceremony that was one of many practices of the time. It seems that one particular school of Buddhism won this memetic war and the structures of formalization took it on and thereafter it is now Japanese Culture with a capital C.

The closest analogue I can think of is diamond engagement rings. Doubtless they were given out prior, but they became formally 'normal' for a while. Of course, one was orchestrated and the other was perhaps just the effect of picking some formal culture to teach and so on. But it is similar in recency of popularity.

j2kun•about 1 hour ago

You can make anything shallow by just not thinking about it.

Conversely, the way things become deep is because we intellectualize them.

thegeomaster•15 minutes ago

Probably has something to do with the fact that the blog post is not human-written.

mproud•about 1 hour ago

Where I’m from, the person who sneezes often says nothing, unless they’re accidentally sneezing near someone else. Strangers nearby however will say “bless you!” or occasionally “gesundheit!” But yes, I think people who utter the words do so as a quick reaction without much forethought.

dllu•about 2 hours ago

Japanese also has a word you say to the cook, ご馳走様でした (gochisousama deshita) but that's said after the meal as thanks.

stevefan1999•6 minutes ago

I used to hear that when you finished eating ramen and you should say this as a replacement speech of "thank you". It basically means "It must be tired of you to go around to design and prepare for the meal" which implicitly implied an appreciation

charcircuit•5 minutes ago

There's also a word you say when food is brought to you, ありがとうございます.

stevefan1999•18 minutes ago

Another fun fact: itadakimasu is categorized as a keigo, or more specifically, kenjougo, an honorific expression that depreciates speaker itself. And since itadaku is an advanced version of morau to show that "I am of lower status", so the whole expression should be (from the gods/kamisama/the people above me who brings me here for the feast) I humbly receives.

This is also why you say itadakimasu even when alone, despite there are apparently no one superior than you exists, but no, it is now the gods you appreciate

orangebread•30 minutes ago

Seems like a form of expressing gratitude for the food you're about to eat, and not an exclusive practice to Buddhism or Christianity. There is an intrinsic spiritual element to giving grace before eating.

Michelangelo11•about 2 hours ago

> The gloss is not wrong. But it has quietly relocated the word.

Thanks, Fable

asgraham•about 2 hours ago

Out of context it does sound like AInese. I think that’s largely because AI has a tendency to use location in very metaphorical terms that don’t quite read, and usually the idea of “relocating” a word would be exactly that kind of vaguely weird metaphorical use of location.

However in the context of this article “relocated the word” is both literal and precise. The word’s target is in a different physical location.

“Quietly” is also AI-coded but does fit in the overall aesthetic of the article.

weiliddat•about 2 hours ago

https://www.pangram.com/history/c837bbcb-4aed-43e1-987c-afe2...

I know you're being downvoted, because people are tired of hearing "this is AI".

But I think your comment "this is AI" is warranted. This content, explaining something of cultural, personal significance (instead of the typical technical explainer) should really be written by a human.

asgraham•about 2 hours ago

How good are these detectors? (Serious question— I’ve never had a reason to use one)

tekla•about 1 hour ago

Its strange because I knew the point from the article already, but it kinda seems like some sort of strawman? I think many cultures have a way of saying "thanks for the food" in a universal way and not the cook. Even in western cultures there is "saying grace" and I don't think anyone would mistake it for it being aimed at the cook.

mortenjorck•16 minutes ago

I had always assumed it was a sort of quasi-religious practice as the same gesture is typically seen at shrines. Not once in 30 years of consuming Japanese culture did I ever think it was directed at the chef!

timetraveller26•about 1 hour ago

Where I am from we say "Gracias a Dios" after a meal. Childs and even non-religious people say it as a reflex.

It's a common joke to question why we thank God instead of the person who actually cooked the meal.

jolmg•4 minutes ago

From a non-religious view, God represents everything not in your control. You thank God for e.g. not having you or your guardian/provider be fired or otherwise yourselves being put in a position where you can't eat (illness, etc.). The person who cooked your meal isn't the only one responsible for your being able to eat. They need the ingredients and efforts of everyone making such ingredients and putting them in home (transportation, good harvest, etc.), a lot of it in control of God (i.e. outside of your control).

In Spanish, we also have "provecho" which is said to others about to eat. It means "benefit/utility" and said in hope that the food is of usefulness to the health and well-being of the person about to eat.

waffletower•about 1 hour ago

ごちそうさまでした。「gochisousama deshita」 This can be said to the cook. I heard "いただきます！"「itadakimasu」more frequently for a variety of reasons. But it is common to shout out to thank the cook when you leave a restaurant. I became comfortable doing it myself.

bitwize•about 2 hours ago

I always thought it was to the gods, spirits, kami, whatever "it" or "they" were that allowed you to eat. Though it could be either, or both at once; when members of Native American tribes would make a kill on the hunt, they would pay their respects to the spirit of the animal they just killed. Even if it was the spirit of a fish they had just speared, giving its life so they could eat another day.

I kind of admire the Japanese for their capacity to live humbly and gratefully without need for a big-sky-daddy myth. The world of the traditional Japanese is full of hidden wonders; indeed, it really belongs to them, and we just live in it.

manoDev•about 1 hour ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animism

LargeWu•about 2 hours ago

This is a really bizarre take. Praying to the small, local spirits, like the one of the animal you are about to eat, is noble and beautiful, but praying to a universal god is worthy of mockery? ("sky-daddy myth")

I don't really care what people believe, but if you can accept and respect traditions that believe in the supernatural, which includes any spirit, surely beliefs centered around creator gods are no less plausible.

newfriend•31 minutes ago

>big-sky-daddy myth

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