Learn the Most Balanced Way to Eat From a Culture That Lives Longest

Embrace ichibutsu zentai and worry less about how to eat

Kaki Okumura
Heated
Published in
4 min readNov 27, 2020

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A whole fish.
Illustrations: Kaki Okumura

When you think of Japanese food, there are many things that come to mind, but more than likely you’d probably think of fish.

Given that Japan is an island nation with a rich history of seafood this is unsurprising: While seafood consumption has decreased in recent years, Japan is still among the top three countries in terms of per capita seafood consumption, trailing just behind South Korea and Norway. At peak, Japanese people were eating over 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of seafood per person a year, about 1.5 times more than their meat consumption. For comparison, Americans averaged around seven kilograms (16 pounds) of seafood per person in 2018.

At peak, Japanese people were eating over 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of seafood per person a year, while Americans averages around seven kilograms (16 pounds) of seafood per person a year.

Fish comes with a lot of health benefits, most notably as being a rich source of omega-3 fatty acids, an essential nutrient that has been shown to help lower blood pressure, reduce the risk of heart disease and…

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Kaki Okumura
Heated
Writer for

Born in Dallas, raised in New York and Tokyo. I care about helping others learn to live a better, healthier life. My site: www.kakikata.space 🌱