Nowhere has greater care and imagination been given to the presentation of food than in Japan. The delicacy and exquisiteness of Japanese table arrangements are matched only by the fragile beauty of Japanese painting.

Traditionally the Japanese bride received as many as 50 different kinds of dishes as wedding gifts, and she might use a dozen at one meal. She would devote the most painstaking attention to the angle at which a sprig of green vegetable was propped against a lump of crabmeat, or the way a fish was garnished. Meals were served in many small dishes, but the total amounts offered each diner were large.

The waters around Japan abound with fish and shellfish, and Japanese seafood is regarded by many gourmets as the finest in the world. Fish is eaten raw (sashimi), broiled, fried in deep fat (tempura), or salted and broiled (shioyaki). The popular tempura method of deep frying food was learned from Portuguese traders who came to Japan in the 16th century. Rice has been the staple; it traditionally accompanied every meal; but in the late 20th century wheat products such as bread have become common, especially as an accompaniment to Western-style food. Sushi, or vinegared rice, is served in stylized portions with a variety of accompaniments, including mushrooms, squid, fish, shrimp, and caviar.

The Japanese like clear soups, garnished with eggs, vegetables, or seafood. The thicker “miso” soups are flavoured with fermented soybean paste. Japanese vegetables include bamboo shoots, snow peas, eggplant, mushrooms, and potatoes. The popular sukiyaki consists of beef and vegetables simmered in soy sauce. Pork or chicken may be substituted for the beef. Saké, a fermented beverage made from rice or other grain, is a popular drink, and tea is taken with all meals and at virtually all hours of the day.

The Japanese tea ceremony, or chanoyu, is a highly formalized ritual dating back to the 13th century. The tea is meticulously prepared and is accompanied by a variety of delicate seasonal dishes. Every aspect of the ceremony—the setting, the flavours and textures of foods, the colours and shapes of the containers, even the conversation—is carefully calculated to achieve the most harmonious and satisfying effect.

An outgrowth of the tea ceremony is the kaiseki, the grande cuisine of Japan; it is the highest form of Japanese dining and perhaps comes as close to dining as an art form as any in the entire world of gastronomy. The food served in kaiseki is selected according to the changing seasons and is presented through a series of small dishes with an artful simplicity that brings out the unique tastes of ordinary foods from nearby mountains and sea. Perhaps the key to the composition of the kaiseki meal lies in the word aishoh: “compatibility.”