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No.172 SIM音読用英文

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Japan Prepares to Send 'Sushi Police' on Worldwide Crusade to Improve
Japanese Cuisine
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Although isolated for many centuries,

this island nation has been a gastronomic crossroads for decades.

Some of the Italian and French restaurants located here

are rated nearly as highly

as any found in Europe.

But the Japanese also relish pizzas

topped with corn or squid,

hamburgers smothered in mayonnaise and wasabi,

or chowder brimming with tofu

- that is to say, fermented soybean curd.

Visitors from Rome or Boston may be appalled

at such culinary interpretations.

But the Japanese are obviously open minded

in modifying the cuisine of other nations,

just as they successfully did

with automotive technology and consumer electronics.

However, Foreign Ministry spokesman, Tomohiko Taniguchi,

phrasing things most diplomatically, explains

that the Japanese have less tolerance

for what, of late, is passing for their native cuisine overseas.

"In some countries,

simply displaying what's called 'Japanese food'

while maintaining something dramatically different

from what you can see as Japanese food

can be observed as an increasing phenomenon."

This is prompting Japan's Agriculture Ministry

to convene a panel of food experts.

They will establish certification standards

for Japanese restaurants outside the country.

Just what the certification standards will be,

or who the conclusions will be aimed at,

has not yet been determined.

A reporter calling the ministry for more information was told, politely,

to call back next March.

Whatever the criteria, however,

the Japanese regard preparation of their cuisine

- which, for the uninitiated, includes far more than sushi -

very seriously.

The notion of Japanese inspectors setting cooking standards

for soba in Sao Paolo, or teriyaki in Tehran

? or sushi rolls in New York ?

has met with a certain amount of skepticism

among international journalists here

who were told of the plan.

So much so that Taniguchi,

the Foreign Ministry's usually unflappable spokesman,

finally abandoned all pretense of support

for the idea.

"What's called 'sushi police' is not going to do good

for the better image of Japanese food, I believe."

The food bureaucrats across the street at the Agriculture Ministry, however, are
undaunted

by such criticism.

They are forging ahead with their plan

to police the world's sushi platters.

The ministry says

its blue ribbon panel will unveil certification standards

by the end of February.

And, starting next April,

their inspectors will spread out around the world,

to begin what may turn out to be a most unappetizing assignment.

Steve Herman, VOA News, Tokyo.
(Material is provided courtesy of voanews.com.)
by danueno | 2006-11-29 15:43 | SIM音読用英文


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