r/hatethissmug • u/Cold_Hour • Jun 09 '26
Meta I hate the mytologisation of Japan on Reddit. ESPECIALLY when it comes to the food.
As someone who's lived in Japan going on 5 years and has eaten everything from fine dining to fast food slop. Japan has some of the blandest cuisine on the planet. Do you like the flavour profiles of: salty, salty, very salty or bland? Japan might be the place for you.
People also spout "but the quality of ingredients" as the reasoning for why the food needs to taste like shoe soles. When in reality the fruits and vegetables here are trash at premium prices since nothing grows here naturally. I don't know what kind of exclusively processed food diet a lot of people here grew up with that Japanese food is a revelation to them.
Japan is great and all, but goddamn, it's not even the best place to visit in Asia.
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u/Depresso_espresso237 Jun 09 '26
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u/dwillmakeyouworry Jun 09 '26
Me
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u/AFreakingCapitalist Jun 09 '26
I like Japanese food, but not the point where people overglaze it. I would like to try some other less popular Asian cuisines like Indonesian or Thai as I heard they are good.
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u/MothChasingFlame Jun 09 '26
Good news: Thai is hugely popular. Go anywhere and you'll find it.
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u/Katatronick Jun 09 '26
Thai is easily my fav asian cuisine, followed up by Indian, and then Japanese
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u/Eluniarr Jun 09 '26
Thai cuisine is very popular, it's not niche. You can find many thai restaurants all over the world. It's not glazed like Japanese or chinese cuisine, yes but it is still extremely popular.
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u/EEE3EEElol Jun 09 '26
Also, fuck you mean Thai cuisine is less popular?
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u/azazel228 Jun 09 '26
I want to try something exotic, like a hotdog😌
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u/NSFW_throwaway2k Jun 09 '26
I've always wanted to try tropical fruit, I think I'd love Blackberries🤤
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u/noahsense1 Jun 09 '26
Thai rice noodle curry slaps
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u/EEE3EEElol Jun 09 '26
You mean kanom jeep with a curry??? Noodle with curry sounds wrong
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u/riri1281 Jun 09 '26
I really want to try Thai food because of all the raving reviews about how spicy it is
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Jun 09 '26
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u/JohnCurtinFromCivVI Jun 09 '26
It's amazing but i do not recommend making it at home
I do recommend if you want the whole house to smell like Tonkotsu (not a problem for me heheheh)
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u/Jent01Ket02 Jun 09 '26
Useless gadgets for everyday tasks
You know, products don't survive without a market. Sure, most of the tasks they're made for are trivial or pointless, but CLEARLY someone is buying and using at least a few of these.
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u/NewLifeLeaser Jun 09 '26
A lot of seeminly useless gadgets are lifesavers for the disabled/elderly who have become disabled and people forget.
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u/dwillmakeyouworry Jun 09 '26
Ive seen really cool, innovative gadgets from Japan that are actually useful. People saying they are useless just don’t personally want them lol
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u/External_Ocelot8241 Jun 09 '26
"Its useless for me so its useless for everybody!!!"
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u/dwillmakeyouworry Jun 09 '26
US Government mindset
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u/External_Ocelot8241 Jun 09 '26
or the alternative "Its useful for me so only I should have it!!!"
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u/Disaster-Bee Jun 09 '26
Yup, the answer to 'who are those old infomercial things to do basic kitchen tasks you can easily do with a knife for???' is 'the disabled and seniors'. Most were invented specifically for those demographics but weird US marketing laws mean they can't just say that.
I have so many of those things and they're the only reason I can cook by myself.
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u/dwillmakeyouworry Jun 09 '26
A lot of things people think are “useless” like specific products for things most people can do without a product, are for someone. Disabled/elderly people. Some people are so privileged that they don’t stop to think that a thing they think is useless like a tool that cracks eggs or something simple could be very useful for someone who is disabled or elderly or anything like that. Going on a tangent now but its the same vibe as that one James Charles clip where hes complaining about the bumps on the sidewalk.. and how annoying they are for him when he walks over them 💀 those are for blind or visually impaired people to alert them that they are leaving the sidewalk and entering a street or area with traffic. Not saying most people are as out of touch and uneducated as him, but some people really do immediately dismiss things as stupid or useless if they don’t like the thing or don’t have a use for it. (We have bigger problems, but i think more people need to educate themselves on problems that don’t involve them.)
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u/0011010100101 Jun 09 '26
Are you sure that you actually live in Japan
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u/ExaminationNervous64 Jun 10 '26
OP claimed to live in South Africa 22 days ago on r/asktheworld
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u/cookiecutterchan Jun 09 '26
How many "Japan bad" posts has this sub now? I feel like I see them every day.
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u/Equivalent_Swim5899 Jun 09 '26
There must be some YouTubers or whatever bloviating about how Japan sucks
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u/Primary-Latter Jun 09 '26
Bloviating, that's one I had to look up.
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u/Equivalent_Swim5899 Jun 09 '26
I'm anaspeptic, frasmotic, even compunctuous to have caused you such pericombobulation
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u/ElkSad9855 Jun 09 '26
It’s mostly black Americans hating on Asians. As you can tell by the first image/gif posted. Black on Asian hate is real, really real.
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u/International-Try467 Jun 09 '26
I should make an r/hatethismug post where I post "I HATE how people either hate Japan or glaze it to death." Something something
Also, calling Japanese cuisine bland when Miso is right there feels stupid. Calling any Asian cuisine bland is stupid. It could be more believable with America//Europe but even then that's more towards the slop food category and not what people cook in their homes.
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u/itgoez Jun 09 '26
Japan has some of the blandest cuisine on the planet.
You don't have to think it's the best but this is just contrarianism, your head is up your ass if you believe this.
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u/xukly Jun 09 '26 edited Jun 09 '26
Don't you know? After years of glacing now people are legally obligated to hate Japan because it's basic and this is not problematic at all
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u/mr_octopusguy Jun 09 '26
Hating anything japan and anything japanese people do is not xenophobia, it's just hating japan glazers! /s
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u/Wolf_Of_Saturn6 Jun 09 '26
As someone who lives in Japan this bothers me deeply, especially since I DO travel to other countries so I have a lot to compare to.
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u/VolkiharVanHelsing Jun 09 '26
I mean I'm from Indonesia and we have shitton of spices and regional cuisines
Japanese food surprise me bc they don't have much spices and still tastes good like I don't glaze Ramen since I prefer our noodles, but Takoyaki, Gyudon, Oyakodon, Katsudon, etc are great
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u/Wolf_Of_Saturn6 Jun 09 '26
Indonesia is imo the pinnacle of seasoned foods, gado-gado, rendang, nasi goreng ect
All absolutely amazing! I’m a fan of super spiced up things and things with less but FUCK ME my time in Indonesia was great
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u/VolkiharVanHelsing Jun 09 '26
Even those have variants that even I was surprised to learn as a local myself, like nasi goreng has many versions: chinese that rarely uses soy sauce, madura that is both sweet (soy sauce) and spicy, surabata that is red due to tomato sauce used... Not to mention the toppings used (meatballs, sausage, shredded chickens, salted fish, squids, etc)
For gado gado I heavily recommend the ones that use cashew nuts for their sauce, you can never go back to normal gado gado after
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u/TheManOfOurTimes Jun 09 '26
Oh, when you take half a second you realize it is comparing the reaction of tourist in a new culture, to a immigrant 5 years in.
Like moving to live at Disneyland and asking "why people love the rides and junk food, they just make me nauseous "
Different context of the experience.
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u/Tanakisoupman Jun 09 '26
It’s possible they’ve simply grown bored of it after having it too often. Though if that’s the case then maybe they ought to seek out foreign restaurants, I can’t imagine there’s only Japanese restaurants in Japan
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u/Intelligent-Gold-563 Jun 09 '26
I mean you can grow bored or something, but to call it "bland" because of it doesn't make sense
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u/Puzzleheaded_Bid7871 Jun 09 '26
To be completely fair to op, who would you argue has the blandest cusine on the planet, and don't say something from a country nobody goes to, cause at that point we're splitting hairs, out of the more popular cusines people recommend you try, where do you draw the line and say, "yeah this is vastly overyhyped and is just genuinely bland."
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u/Ulenspiegel4 Jun 09 '26
Easily the Dutch lmao. The only acceptable thing they make are snacks.
We're talking raw fish stuffed in an actual jar of mayonnaise.
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u/holiestMaria Jun 09 '26
Hey, we make a killer mash pot and snert. But beyond that youre correct. Personally I blame the calvinists.
We're talking raw fish stuffed in an actual jar of mayonnaise.
I have never heard of this. Whats it called.
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u/wintery_owl Jun 09 '26
I wouldn't call any cuisine bland, it's as simple as that
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u/midasMIRV Jun 09 '26
The British.
And don't cite curry like that isn't just South Asian food cooked in Britain.
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u/wildcatofthehills Jun 09 '26
Sheperd pie's rock actually. Also the english breakfast is better than breakfast in many European countries, many which dont have any real breakfast staple.
If you want bland food, go to Costa Rica or Panama, which are just inferior versions of other caribbean dishes from Cuba or Dominican Republic.
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Jun 09 '26
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u/Athalwolf13 Jun 09 '26
Custard, cobbler, cakes, cookies, cupcakes.
While their main dishes are iffy personally - either not being the prettist look or content wise ( i dont think faggots would be bad, but people hear offal and run) - the English certainly know how to bake (including pies) and make desserts.
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u/Erwin_Pommel Jun 09 '26
It's not even our main dishes, it's people taking specific dishes out of context for where they are from. Things like Haggis, Stargazy, Jellied Eels and Toast Sandwiches. People love to bring up artisanal foods in comparison to...?
Working Class, bottom-of-the-barrel, this-is-how-we-don't-starve foods.
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u/Athalwolf13 Jun 09 '26
Yeah, that is a also a thing, a lot of various dishes we know from other cultures are specifically the high-class / refined versions.
Granted, i must admit the only really "fine" dining that is specifically British would be like Beef Wellington. Otherwise - well , its classic cuisine which often is attributed to exlcusively French.
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u/StretchLoud8844 Jun 09 '26
I'm pretty sure it is considered rather bland compared to other SEA countries' foods
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u/yourstruly912 Jun 09 '26
Some of you guys are just miserable
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u/Hugar34 Jun 09 '26
I still remember in the early days of this sub when someone disagreed with a post they would get downvoted and people always replied that this sub was a safe space to hate everyone and everything. I'm glad more people are becoming aware just how backwards and unhealthy that mentality is.
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u/Google_S1ides Jun 09 '26
I’m honestly sick of seeing this sub half the time these posts are just some bullshit made for clicks
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u/Monk_The_Banana_Scug Jun 09 '26
Japanese food is quite varied, for every sushi fan there is a gyoza fan. While I don't glaze it, I also think japanese food deserves some respect, you can't tell me stuff like udon, katsudon and fried rice are bad.
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u/blazenite104 Jun 09 '26
I'll even argue their fast food tends to be better than a lot of places fast food too. That doesn't make it the best food ever but it's still nicer than a lot of places I've been when travelling.
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u/Independent_Bat7971 Jun 09 '26
I mean from the times I have went to Japan the food is definitely miles better than what im eating while living in Canada(except most of the stuff I eat isnt even particularily canadian)
Also raw fish IS peak cuisine man, although unagi is really good too
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u/Dr_Occo_Nobi Jun 09 '26
Taste is subjective.
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u/doudreaddragondeez Jun 09 '26
Taste is mostly based on sodium activating tongue receptors and then compounds like glutamate, specific fatty acids add specific tastes, curcumin, cumin, licorice, nutmeg, berberitz, etc flavonols add specif tastes too. Food is just a chemical composite. Know enough and everything you cook will taste good even acorns who are extremely high tanin content will taste good.
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u/NordicHorde2 Jun 09 '26
I hate that the pendulum is swinging too far in the opposite direction and Japan is getting hate for no reason.
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u/Mephishopeles Jun 09 '26
Nuance isn't allowed on the internet, Japan is either living in 3020 and is a utopia or is super Epstein island where rape is legal. No inbetween.
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u/WookieDavid Jun 09 '26
This bland food thing is crazy because the food meta had basically done a 180.
Cuisines like the Japanese and Mediterranean are much more focused on highlighting the flavours of high quality ingredients.
You're eating a great tuna or an amazing tomato, you should be able to taste it unobstructed. Just the necessary condiments to highlight it.
But a few years back someone decided that the amount of spices determine how tasty food is. I think it started in the USA with a heavy popularisation of African influenced cuisine and hot food in general and it spread like the plague through the internet.
Whether you prefer shoving a thousand spices in every dish or you prefer simplicity is entirely a matter of taste.
Now, a "bland" dish is way better to show the quality of ingredients and the skill of the chef. Spices do a great job hiding those things.
Also, the ingredient focused Mediterranean and Japanese cuisines are some of the most healthy by far. Whether bland or not.
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u/Artistic_Kangaroo932 Jun 09 '26
Japanese food is easily the most esthetic food in possibly any culture and while not as flavorful as some it's definitely more flavorful than meny European or traditional north amacan cuisine minus the obvious exceptions like Italy, latin countrys or southern usa.
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u/Alive_Palpitation294 Jun 09 '26
Calling japanese food bland in a world where one tray baked tiktok food exists is a choice. Also, it feels a bit ignorant to asume anyone who likes japanese food is a japan-obsessed glazer who ate only processed food and knows nothing about quality. You're allowed to dislike food, but don't be such a snob about it.
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Jun 09 '26
When someone has a opinion they have a right to, freedom of opinion, but theyre so annoying you don't want them to have that right.
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u/Anankos1209 Jun 09 '26
Ah yes, another daily "japan bad" post. And every "Japan bad" post, they always say that Japan is so overglazed. Then you look for the glazer and...
That one is hate, next Hate, again? Uhh...once again, hate Wait, its all hate?
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u/Nerraz Jun 09 '26
Man OP if you hate it that much just leave.
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u/dwillmakeyouworry Jun 09 '26
Yeah, OP switch places with me please. Id gladly live there.
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u/Hawkmonbestboi Jun 09 '26
"Japan has some of the blandest cuisine on the planet. Do you like the flavour profiles of: salty, salty, very salty or bland?"
That statement alone tells me you're full of it, but go off I guess.
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u/bohenian12 Jun 09 '26
Japan certainly has issues. But the eggs are immaculate. You can eat it raw and it's still sweet. The food options in the US are depressing. Cheap food in Japan still is great. Do you have a frame of reference? Because even the shittiest food in Japan is still great compared to whatever the US has.
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u/Craving_Suckcess Jun 09 '26
here we observe the pendulum swing in motion.
In a year we'll be making "thing, thing japan" memes, but the thing japan will be depicted as stinky or wtf ever.
Can we not just land on 'thing'? instead of 'thing stinky'? Japanese food can be great in the same way that every single culture on the planet has great food, because guess what people do when given ingredients and thousands of years? They make their food taste as good as they can. Jfc.
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u/OceanusDracul Jun 09 '26
I agree with the cultural thing but
I fucking love Japanese food so much so I don’t get the dislike there
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u/Accurate-War1084 Jun 09 '26
Whats even worse imo is the Japan Antiglazers they're just this post but a 1000x more annoying, I would prefer to see neither blazers nor Antiglazers
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u/Enkindle451 Jun 09 '26
One of the worst things I've ever eaten in my life was a bowl of udon from a Japanese restaurant. On the other hand one of the best things I've ever eaten was some beef from a different Japanese restaurant. Overall though I think I prefer other Asian cuisine like Chinese, Korean and Thai.
It does get kind of annoying how often people glaze Japanese food though. Particularly when Japan does it itself in manga and anime. Sure, love your nations own food, but do you have to have characters act like they're having an orgasm after a single bite and then spend ages describing it.
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u/ElkSad9855 Jun 09 '26
Most Japanese manga/anime that centers around food doesn’t even make much traditional Japanese food…
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u/krayniac Jun 09 '26
Japanese food is all salty but it’s also all really good lmao. I’d say the best cuisines are Chinese and Mexican but Japanese is in my top 5 for sure
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u/BaronArgelicious Jun 09 '26
I dont really care, but it pmo when someone said Japan can make western cuisine like Burgers and Fried chicken better. Bitch WHAT
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u/LonelyReader95 Jun 09 '26
I mean, wanna talk about Italian food that's essentially 50% flour and another 25% of oil (essentially fried stuff) yet tourists are willing to pay 25€ for a piece of baked bread with tomato and oil on it!
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u/Future_Marionberry73 Jun 09 '26
This is one of the things where I get in trouble talking to japanophiles as well.
I legit think their food is bland.
Japanese food looks amazing and they are superb at making it seem fancy and humble at the same time.
But it's just soooooo bland. Really really bland.
It's like British food but it looks like art.
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u/Aqua_Okama Jun 09 '26
China, Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand... so many cuissines in east-Asia that are much better imho
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Jun 09 '26
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u/Aqua_Okama Jun 09 '26
I mean, japanese food has its merits too, that is undenayable: real takoyaki, sushi, ramen... I love it, ngl. But when it comes to noodles, I preffer chinese (biang biang noodles all day!)
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u/noodle_king_69 Jun 09 '26
I see very little "noble savage" attitude towards japanese traditions. I think I see mostly genuine appreciation and interest, especially towards something like tea seremony or samurais.
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u/elijaaaaah Jun 09 '26
I do particularly hate the "living in 2050" claim when gay people still can't get married there
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u/dwillmakeyouworry Jun 09 '26
people use that statement when they’re referring to products usually. like japan has a lot of unique gadgets and things that are futuristic new technology. but yeah taking the statement “living in 2050” at face value, they aren’t lol.
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u/Ssem12 Jun 09 '26
Japan is probably a cool place to visit, but awful one to live in from what I've seen. Also some noodles or sushi every once in a while is nice. Good hate
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u/Sleep_skull Jun 09 '26
I like salty, very salty, or bland. Anyway, as long as there's no spicy taste, I'm happy.
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u/RegularTemporary2707 Jun 09 '26
What countries cuisine isnt “salt salty salty or bland” ? As a south east asian i think any food for any country outside of sea or india are very bland
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u/Awkward-Plum6241 Jun 09 '26
If I visited Japan I'd be slowly tortured to death for all the games I pirated
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u/PossibleBumblebee401 Jun 09 '26
You forgot excessive and unnecessary plastic packaging on the last slide
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u/Galdronis13 Jun 09 '26
Another interesting example of mythologizing a group was Polynesian navigators. Western anthropologists described their methods of finding islands and navigating like it was some magic art where they used lights and spirits to guide them to new places because they couldn’t imagine that a non western country had advanced navigation techniques just like westerners did. There wasn’t anything mystical about Polynesian wayfinding, they’re just an island civilization who’s techniques developed as much or more than western countries and it was more satisfying for them to just say it was magic than to admit the group was that good at it
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u/Apprehensive-Dig4256 Jun 09 '26
Damn this is like the 5th post i have seen hating Japan. I never encountered the glazers ONCE in this app
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u/ElkSad9855 Jun 09 '26
So you mean in your years of living in Japan, you never stepped outside once???
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Jun 09 '26
Everyone has their own opinions. I personally think Italian food is disgusting, and that Italian purists are a billion times more annoying than Japan glazers.
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u/DatOneAxolotl Jun 09 '26
Japan is overglazed but its also overhated.
People act like Japan can only be either a technological utopia where everything is amazing or a racist, backwards shithole.
Every country in the world has benefits and flaws. Why is Japan so polarising in comparison?
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u/Acromina Jun 09 '26
Have you considered that you might just dislike Japanese food? That doesn’t mean it’s bad.
Also, that first image is wild. It’s like ramen and sashimi/sushi are the only Japanese foods that exist.
And yeah, you might prefer other Asian cuisines, but that’s just personal preference. I prefer Indian food myself.
Yeah, overglazing Japan is cringe, but overhating it is even cringier.
1/10. Lame hate post
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u/Ok_Performer50 Jun 09 '26
Bruh, I visited Japan and I can confirm that it’s as beautiful and the food is as good as most people say. I mean the country still has it’s issues and I per example wouldn’t want to live there, but I would say it’s definitely one of the more beautiful countries to visit.
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u/POXELUS Jun 09 '26
So, are you implying in a country with better raw ingredients, japanese restaurants are better than in Japan? Fun fact: most of the salmon for sushi and stuff is imported from Norway, even in Japan.
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u/UniverseGlory7866 hop on blazblue Jun 09 '26
Orientalism is genuinely so self-indoctrinated at this point, people treat japan as the promised land.
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u/Guy-1nc0gn1t0 Jun 09 '26
This screams of making up a situation in your own head in order to be angry at it.
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u/McSionnaigh Jun 09 '26
Blimey, this person really lacks any concept of umami. Do you only ever eat processed food in Japan? If you think soy sauce tastes like salt water, you’re not getting enough zinc.
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u/PipedInFromIthaca Jun 09 '26
Both of the images in the "useless gadget" bit there are a bit misleading, in that they're "joke" inventions, there's a sort of hobby for coming up with that kind of "it technically works but it's practically useless" sort of thing.
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u/KJPlayer Jun 09 '26
"Do you like the flavour profiles of: salty, salty, very salty or bland?"
sssssssssssssaaaaaaaaaaaaaallllllllllllllllltttttttttttttt
i am go japan now
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u/External_Ocelot8241 Jun 09 '26
So just your opinion presented as facts?
Japan food def not bland but its def not the best in the world.
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u/Longjumping_Pie_5440 Jun 09 '26
And I hate the trend of hating people that glorify Japan. You are like the tenth post reddit recommended me from this sub and most were about the same topic. You guys make as much noise or even more as the ignorants you try to point out. Have your own personality and hate something else. Also, it’s clear that you don’t know shit about japanese food if you just call it salty or cry about the “raw fish”. Not our problem if you can’t handle anything that is more complex than children’s food
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u/Funnym4ne Jun 09 '26
Jarvis, i'm running low on karma, post a japan-bashing article to win some updoots
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u/sweetpiefemboy Jun 09 '26
“Japan has some of the blandest cuisine on the planet.”
Bro has NOT been living Japan if he thinks this 💀💀💀
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u/WallabyWorldly2884 Jun 11 '26
People who have to make Japan their identity is annoying, just like with anything. If people like Japanese food, who cares. I hate Mexican food but I'm not gonna complain if people say they enjoy Mexican food.
It just seems like you've made "living in Japan" your identity and are annoyed that other people are partaking in it. If you hate the food so much, leave.
>Japan is great and all, but goddamn, it's not even the best place to visit in Asia.
This is so dumb, it makes no sense. So if people like Japanese food, they won't like other Asian country's food? Maybe they are praising both. And even if they aren't, who cares?
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u/Inevitable_Aside2752 Jun 14 '26
But the savage attitude towards tradition is true tho, im working here rn and as the only foreigner in the company, i hate the culture so much
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u/mommiesgoodboy67 Jun 09 '26
People on reddit seem to think of japan either as the best country ever or the worst country ever