Sushi may be gaining followers around the world, but in Japan red meat may have overtaken fish on dinner tables as young people embrace Western-style food, the government said on May 22.
The carnivorous trend marks a turning point for Japan, which ate little meat other than seafood until the late 19th century.
Japan's annual volume of seafood purchases by households has plunged more than 20 percent over the past 40 years to 12.7kg per person in 2005, the fishery agency said in a white paper.
PHOTO: AFP
By contrast, purchases of other meat by Japanese households more than doubled to 12.6kg over the same period, the agency's annual report said.
"It would be no surprise if meat consumption has already surpassed seafood consumption by now," said Tomomi Hirano, a fishery agency official.
The decline in fish consumption was partially due to rising fish prices and a growing taste for easy-to-cook meat, but "the biggest reason behind the decline in seafood consumption is a change in people's tastes, particularly children," Hirano said.
Hirano added that "young generations are shifting their taste from traditional fish foods to meat-oriented dishes that we can often see in Western foods."
Some 32 percent of families said they cook meat more than fish because their family members, mostly children, dislike fish dishes, the report said.
"Those who did like fish in their childhood tend to avoid cooking fish when they grow up," Hirano said. "It's a vicious circle." (AFP)
日本政府五月二十二日表示，壽司也許風靡全球，但由於日本年輕人逐漸喜歡西方食物，餐桌上的魚可能已被紅肉取代。
這股肉食性潮流點出日本面臨了轉捩點。十九世紀晚期之前，日本人所吃的海鮮比肉品還多。
日本漁業局的白皮書中說，過去四十年以來，日本家庭每年的海鮮消費量下降了逾20%，二○○五年已降至每人十二點七公斤。
日本漁業局這份年度報告中說，相較之下，日本家庭其他種類的肉品消費量在同期兩倍增，達到十二點六公斤。
漁業局官員平野朋美說︰「假如肉品消費量現在已超越了海鮮，也沒什麼好訝異的。」
平野女士說，魚類食用量下降尤其可歸咎於魚價上揚，以及大眾逐漸喜歡易煮的肉類，但「海鮮食用量下滑的主因還是民眾口味改變，尤其是小朋友」。
平野女士也說，「年輕世代的口味逐漸從傳統魚食改為西餐中常見的肉食。」
這份報告中也指出，約32%的家庭說他們煮肉的機會多於煮魚，理由是家庭成員（多半是小孩）不喜歡吃魚。
「小時候喜歡吃魚的人長大後往往會避免煮魚，」平野女士說︰「這是惡性循環。」 （法新社/翻譯︰賴美君）
Monosodium glutamate (MSG) has been used in cooking for over a century to enhance flavor. It is often found in Chinese dishes and many other cuisines. Despite its common use, many people misunderstand the safety of MSG. The bad __1__ of MSG started in the late 1960s, when a letter to the New England Journal of Medicine described symptoms like a racing heart, weakness, and numbness after the writer ate Northern Chinese food. While no specific cause was __2__, a series of questionable studies in 1968 began to point the finger at MSG. In one such study, neurologist Herbert Schaumburg and
A: The World Expo 2025 is about to open in Osaka. Is Taiwan going to participate in the event too? B: Sure, the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) will launch a Taiwan pavilion named “Tech World.” A: That sounds cool, and it can showcase our national strength in technology. B: The theme is “Connecting the world to create better future lives together.” The pavilion aims to attract over one million visitors. A: I hope humans can really create better future lives through this year’s fair. A: 2025年世博會即將開幕，這次台灣也會參加嗎？ B: 當然啦，外貿協會的台灣館將以「Tech World」名義參展！ A: 聽起來蠻酷的，應該是想強調台灣的科技實力。 B: 策展主題則是：「連結世界，共創未來美好生活」，希望能吸引到100萬人次參訪。 A: 希望藉由這次世博會，人類真的能共創美好生活。 （By Eddy Chang, Taipei Times／台北時報張迪）
Even as he grows older, Microsoft founder Bill Gates still fondly remembers the catalytic computer code he wrote 50 years ago that opened up a new frontier in technology. Although the code that Gates printed out on a teletype machine may look crude compared to what’s powering today’s artificial intelligence platforms, it played a critical role in creating Microsoft in April 1975 — a golden anniversary that the Redmond, Washington, company celebrated on April 4. Gates, 69, set the stage for that jubilee with a blog post reminiscing on how he and his old high school friend — the late Paul Allen
The study had several issues. Small sample sizes made it hard to draw __7__ conclusions. Additionally, taking a __8__ like pure MSG on an empty stomach is likely to make a person ill in any case. Choosing individuals who already had a history of the symptoms could have created a bias because they were likely to __9__ the reactions again. When real scientific research on the effects of MSG was eventually done, many of the myths surrounding it were proven __10__. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other global organizations have found MSG safe to eat. Today, MSG
RSS