Yoshoku (Japanese Western Food) Day

What Is Yoshoku Day?

August 8th is "Yoshoku Day" in Japan, honoring "yoshoku," Japan's home-grown style of Western-influenced cuisine. The date comes from reading "Ha(8)ya(8)" in "hayashi raisu" (hashed beef rice), a classic yoshoku dish. It was established by Chigusa Co., which runs the Chigusa Hotel and other businesses in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka Prefecture, as a day to promote yoshoku culture, from beef stew to hamburg steak.

"Yoshoku," a Culture That Developed Uniquely in Japan

Yoshoku is, in a sense, "Japanese-made Western cuisine" -- dishes based on Western cooking that developed their own distinct identity to suit Japanese tastes from the Meiji era onward.

• Origin: reads "haya" in hayashi raisu as a wordplay on "8, 8"
• Purpose: to promote yoshoku culture as a whole, from hayashi raisu to beef stew and hamburg steak
• Iconic dishes: omurice, Napolitan spaghetti, and croquettes are just a few of the many yoshoku dishes that developed uniquely in Japan

The Difference Between "Yoshoku" and "Western Cuisine"

While "Western cuisine" refers to authentic French or Italian cooking, "yoshoku" refers to dishes reworked for Japanese palates. Tonkatsu and curry rice are, in a broad sense, also considered part of the yoshoku category. As for hayashi raisu, the dish behind this day, there are several theories about its name: one says it is a corruption of the English "hashed beef," and another says it comes from a dish created by Hayashi Yuteki, founder of the bookstore Maruzen.

Tips for Marking This Day

• Enjoy a favorite yoshoku dish, whether hayashi raisu or omurice
• Visit a yoshoku restaurant or a retro-style cafe
• Try making a yoshoku dish at home
• Look into the history of how yoshoku spread across Japan

The Wisdom of Adapting a Foreign Flavor to the Japanese Table

The ingenuity of generations who reworked Western dishes to suit Japanese palates gave rise to today's rich yoshoku food culture. August 8th is a day to rediscover the appeal of yoshoku.