Japanese cuisine has developed over two hundred years and influenced by both China and Korea. In Asia, rice has been the major staple food in many countries. However, in Japan, rice has also been used to brew sake, a traditional alcohol drink which always appears in every kinds of Japanese restaurant today, such as Izakaya. Traditionally, a meal contains a bowl of rice and seasoned side dishes for each one person. (Naomichi Ishige 2000) However, in Izakaya type restaurant, people sharing food is a unique izakaya tradition.
Japanese cuisine first became to a distinctive style of cookery in Nara and Heian eras. In Kamakura eras, Japanese cuisine was influenced by Chinese Buddhist-inspired and developed vegetarian cuisine in Japanese dining
When drinking beer with friends, people need to wait until everyone has their own drink and then raise their glasses and say “Gan Bei” which means to drink off the whole glass until the end. About more drinking manners in Japan, the younger person serves the older person is considered as a good manner. However, in Japanese formal restaurant, drunk is considered as a bad manner; except in Izakaya restaurant, as long as you do not bother other customers. Other kinds of drinks include Japanese green tea, different flavors of sawa, shochu, palm wine and regular soft drinks. Japanese green tea is also known as “matcha” which is powdered green tea and was invested during Song Dynasty in China and developed in Japan. Matcha is a very common green tea in Japanese culture and it is generally expensive upon the quality of leaves shaped. Sawa is made with sake and other flavored juices such as calpico drinks, plum juice, or orange juice to become flavored sake. Shochu is made from rice, sweat potatoes, wheat and sugar. It usually serves with water and ice or sometime serves in hot. Palm wine is very famous Japanese alcohol beverage in the world. It is made by Japanese palm, shochu and sugar. It does not really taste like alcohol drink but very fruity taste. It usually contains only around two to five percent of alcohol. (Japan-guide.com)
After eating main entrée, Japanese would always have dessert such as red bean soup, matcha ice cream or mochi