Fake Festive Foods

[helenjp]

Yesterday was Setsubun, or the day winter officially switches to spring in Japan. So all the supermarkets were selling overpriced "traditional" nori roll sushi...something that supermarkets have pushed and pushed every year until it has finally spread from being a minor local custom to being a national "tradition". When I lived in Osaka 30 years ago, they were available from sushi shops at this time of year, but by no means something that "everybody" "had to eat". More, what I remember was very different from the modern supermarket product.

How could any Grinch object to more tasty food in the world, you may ask, but what gets me is the total uniformity of these manufactured traditions, along with the way they are divorced from home cooking. A bit like buying a pumpkin latte for yourself vs. sharing a pumpkin pie with friends and family. Not to mention the sanitization of real-life culture...I notice that supermarkets are not in a hurry to tell us that the original setsubun nori roll sushi were party food for ladies of light reputation to eat in front of their male guests...that's why you're not supposed to bite them!

And if that weren't bad enough, a few days ago I saw a supermarket flyer advertising nigiri sushi with the screaming injunction "It's nearly setsubun! Eat sushi!" I should eat sushi because it's "nearly setsubun"????

[helenjp]

Gosh...you can't mean that is is an "only in Japan" problem, surely?

Are there no food products that raise your eyebrows come Valentine's Day or Easter?

[Snadra]

Chocolate hot cross buns. Actually, they're use called 'choc' hot cross bus (there's something wrong about that abbreviation to me). I know that Easter and chocolate go together most of us, but it still seems like a crime. Also fruitless buns.

And I'm not sure if they're out yet, but my husband reported reported the usual kind were at the shops last week.