During Britain’s lockdown, searches for Japanese food increased by 53 percent.
Mayumi Tanimoto explains why growing interest in Japan’s healthy diet and its relatively low number of COVID-19 deaths proves that international praise for Japan is not a fabrication but the genuine voice of the people.

June 29, 2020
The reactions praising Japan are by no means a fabrication created by Japanese conservatives or by people commonly described as “netouyo,” or online right-wingers.
They are the genuine voices of the people.
The following is taken from an essay by Mayumi Tanimoto entitled “Mr. Abe, Nice Guy! This Has Nothing to Do with the Right or the Left. People of Japan, These Are the Genuine Voices from Overseas!” published in the monthly magazine WiLL, which went on sale on June 26.
The monthly magazine WiLL is essential reading not only for the Japanese people but also for people throughout the world.
Anyone who has not yet subscribed should immediately head to the nearest bookstore.
That is because it is filled with genuine essays such as this one.
And yet, it costs only 920 yen, including consumption tax.
People Overseas Who Praise Japan
The following continues from the preceding chapter.
Japanese Food Sales Surge
In Britain, consumer behaviour supports this growing movement of praise for Japan.
No matter how much manipulation the media may engage in behind the scenes, the way people spend their money cannot be disguised.
For example, during Britain’s lockdown, more people began devoting themselves to cooking at home.
Among British people, for whom curry and kebabs are normally considered “exotic food,” the popularity of Japanese cuisine has been growing at an extraordinary rate.
For example, at an upmarket supermarket patronised by Britain’s middle and upper classes, searches for “Japanese food” on its shopping website reportedly increased by as much as 53 percent.
Compared with Japanese people, the British are truly conservative when it comes to food.
There are quite a few who travel abroad yet eat nothing but British food.
Even when invited to someone else’s home, many people will thoughtlessly say, “I don’t like this,” or “I don’t eat that.”
Because there is little inclination to try anything new, many people continue eating the same kinds of food all the time.
Until about 20 years ago, foreign cuisine in Britain generally meant “British-style Chinese food or curry.”
There were genuinely many people who would not even touch Italian or German food.
Over the past 20 years, large numbers of people have arrived from the EU, airfares have fallen, and more British people have travelled abroad.
As a result, Thai and Spanish food have now become commonplace.
Even so, those who refuse to eat such food will not eat it at all.
When it comes to Japanese cuisine, many people still regard it as exotic and incomprehensible food.
The people who shop at upmarket supermarkets generally have household incomes of around 10 million yen or more and can afford to travel overseas frequently.
They also tend to be older and therefore highly conscious of their health.
Nevertheless, they are fundamentally quite conservative people.
Some of them have never even eaten sushi, and not many would normally consider reaching for Japanese food.
The fact that these “conservative people” are now eagerly trying to eat Japanese food must reflect a desire to benefit from Japan’s healthy diet, which they associate with the country’s low number of coronavirus deaths.
Sales of kimchi and natto have also risen sharply in Japan.
In the United States, sales of kimchi and sauerkraut have increased because South Korea and Germany were regarded as having handled the coronavirus successfully.
Many people are trying to benefit from the example of countries that have succeeded in dealing with the coronavirus.
Since the coronavirus outbreak, Japanese food has also been appearing more frequently in the media.
For example, the Daily Telegraph, a conservative British newspaper aimed at affluent readers, has published Japanese recipes.
National Geographic, which normally focuses on subjects such as ancient ruins and temples, has published an article entitled “Five Dishes Using Miso.”
Paul Hollywood, the enormously popular British television baker, visited Japan and introduced ramen and kaiseki cuisine in a television programme.
The comments on that programme were filled with remarks such as, “Japan has the finest food,” and “I would love to visit Japan.”
The reactions praising Japan are by no means a fabrication created by Japanese conservatives or by people commonly described as “netouyo,” or online right-wingers.
They are the genuine voices of the people.
To be continued.