2024-03-03 14:41:00
In a quiet Tokyo neighborhood, regarding fifty people wait in front of a small restaurant serving “onigiri,” a Japanese dish made of rice balls that has become popular in Japan and abroad in recent years, and its popularity has increased thanks to social media platforms and inflation.
Behind the counter at Onigiri Bongo, the place accommodates nine customers, while Yumiko Okon (71 years old) and her team prepare the colorful ingredients that will be used to decorate regarding sixty types of rice balls wrapped in seaweed and stuffed with traditional ingredients such as pickled peaches, or unconventional ones such as bacon and… soy sauce.
The owner of the restaurant, which sells regarding 1,200 pieces of onigiri a day, says, “In the past, we did not receive any customers between lunch and dinner. Now, customers are queuing for eight hours sometimes.”
She added, “The same work was done 47 years ago and nothing has changed for me. Rather, it is the world around me that has changed,” while onigiri is usually prepared “at home,” a dish that customers can buy and eat on their own.
Onigiri has been consumed in Japan for over a thousand years, and was brought to battlefields by samurai. But in past decades, it was considered a boring and cheap product sold in small stores spread throughout Japan.
However, this dish has been achieving success for years, due to the increasing number of tourists in Japan before the Covid-19 pandemic, in addition to talking regarding it on television programs and series.
– Japan and rice –
The head of the Japanese Onigiri Association, Yusuke Nakamura, says that the inclusion of the oldest onigiri restaurant in Tokyo, “Onigiri Asakusa Yadoroku,” in the Michelin Guide in 2019, played a role in enhancing the popularity of this dish.
“Since people’s perception of onigiri has changed,” he says. “Where they used to consider it a normal daily meal, they now see it as a high-quality dish, which has expanded the ways of consuming it.”
The Japanese Prepared Foods Association indicates that onigiri ranked second in the ranking of these foods in Japan in 2022. Japanese families’ consumption of “onigiri and other certain dishes” has increased by 66% over the past twenty years, according to the Ministry of the Interior.
Nakamura points out that the number of specialized stores is increasing significantly in Japan, as the popularity of onigiri has increased due to the high demand for ready-made meals during the pandemic on the one hand, and the acceleration of inflation in the country over the past two years on the other hand.
He explains that “the price of locally grown rice is relatively stable,” while the cost of wheat imports has risen since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, which has raised the cost of a large number of foods, including bread.
On the other hand, the Japanese relationship with onigiri and rice is very strong and ancient, according to Miki Yamada (48 years old), the director of the “Warai Musubi” company, which specializes in serving “omusubi” dishes, which is another name for onigiri.
She adds that “rice are offerings that we make to the gods” in the Shinto religion, noting that “the shape of omusubi, which is usually a triangle, refers to the mountains,” where a large number of Shinto gods reside.
Yamada, who comes from a rice-farming family in Fukushima, says she realized the importance of onigiri while trying to promote local rice, whose reputation was damaged following the 2011 nuclear disaster. In addition, the rice balls she prepares and photographs are very popular on Instagram.
– “Featured photos” –
While onigiri stalls have limited means to promote themselves, distinctive photos posted by customers of this dish across social media platforms have played a major role in enhancing its popularity, according to Yusuke Nakamura.
Young and female onigiri customers have subsequently increased, as they crave versions of the dish that use high-quality ingredients, or ones that mix various grains with rice for a more nutritious dish.
Miyuki Kawarada (27 years old), president of the Taro Tokyo Onigiri company, which opened two branches in Tokyo in 2022, where high-quality onigiri is sold and the price of each piece can reach 430 yen ($2.9) says, “I want to renew the old image of this dish in Japan and abroad.
She indicates that in the coming years she wants to open dozens of restaurants outside Japan, as she believes that onigiri is capable of overthrowing sushi, which is the ambassador of Japanese cuisine. She confirms that onigiri “can be vegetarian or halal, with the ability to adapt to different cultures.”
Yusuke Nakamura from the Onigiri Association says that he receives many requests from people who want to open onigiri kiosks or restaurants, especially in the United States, while some Japanese have begun investing in the foreign market, such as Omusubi Gunpei, who owns two kiosks in Paris and others in New York.
In front of an onigiri kiosk next to Grand Central Station in New York, Shawn King (53 years old) says that he is “very happy” because he found a store that sells this dish, which he tasted for the first time in Japan.
He told AFP, “Onigiri is a light, healthy dish that is easy to consume. Anyone who eats it will not regret it.”
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