世論 What Japan Thinks

With Japan’s Golden Week holidays almost upon us, and with the submission deadline for the April Japan Blog Matsuri just 10 days away, I would like to present my entry, another slightly strange from a Western point of view ranking survey from goo Ranking on what people would most like to eat after returning from a foreign holiday. The survey was conducted between the 20th and 22nd of March 2007.

One may note that a number of the entries in the list are actually recently-imported dishes: number 9, curry, is the first obvious one, but Japanese “curry” (stew with a hint of spice, usually) and sticky rice is quite a different experience from a real curry such as one might find in the UK.

This survey might also go some way to explaining why so many Japanese, even those going as far as the International Space Station, find they need to pack a few Cup Noodles in their suitcases.

Ranking results

Q: What would you most like to eat after returning home from a foreign holiday?

Rank	Item	Score
1	Ramen	100
2	Sushi	92.8
3	Rice with green tea poured over it	77.2
4	Rice ball	66.2
5	Miso soup	64.7
6	Udon (wheat noodles)	59.0
7	Soba (buckwheat noodles)	50.7
8	Natto	45.7
9	Curry	44.0
10	Pickles	37.6
11	Rice bowl	36.2
12	Sour plum	33.2
13	Yakiniku (grilled beef)	29.0
14	Rice porridge, gruel	27.9
15	Japanese sweets	25.8
16	Grilled fish	24.7
17	Okonomiyaki (savoury pancake)	23.0
18	Tempura (battered fish, etc)	22.4
19	Grilled soba, udon	15.0
20	Boiled food (vegetables, etc)	14.8
21	Oden (egg, daikon, etc boiled in soy-based sauce)	14.6
22	Gyoza	11.8
23	Japanese-style Western sweets (Pocky, etc, perhaps?)	11.2
24	Chinese-style fried rice, pilaf	9.7
25	Omelette-wraped rice	5.3
26	Kushi-yaki (skewer-cooked chicken, etc)	5.3
27	Pasta	3.2
28	Beefburger	3.0
29	Pizza	2.7
30	Hamburger (as in McDonalds, etc)	2.7