food

Curry is so popular in Japan there is a series of Indian restaurant music CDs

5 Comments
By MasterBlaster, RocketNews24

For those who have never been to Japan, it might comes as a surprise that Indian restaurants – or more specifically curry restaurants – are really popular. However, just staying one night in an urban area of the country will reveal how prevalent they are.

Restaurant cataloging website Tabelog lists 21,188 establishments selling curry in Japan, considerably more than there are places serving pasta (14,345) or okonomiyaki (17,382). It’s not hard to believe that these spiced dishes could almost be considered a “Japanese food” at this point considering there is such a wide range of curries and side dishes served in generous portions at reasonable prices.

And you may ask yourself, “How did it get here?”

Curry first made its way to Japan around the turn of the 19th century when Japan had opened its borders for easier international trade. Curry was indirectly introduced here by the British who had co-opted it from their then-colony of India. As such, there were some changes such as a lighter and sweeter taste, which caught on well in Japan.

The British curry, or “curry rice” ("kareraisu") also referred to simply as “curry” or ("kare"), became a permanent fixture in Japanese society and opened the door for more authentic “Indian curry” ("indo kare") restaurants to set up shop in the land of the rising sun. Although their curries are closer to home, they’ll still serve sweeter and milder variations that the people here have come to know and love.

However, whenever I ordered that kind of curry the South Asian waiter would usually laugh at me.

Indian curry restaurants are often small independent establishments and can also include shops run by people from Nepal, Bengal, or other South Asian countries. While these differences do bring some subtle variety to the flavor and decorations to these eateries, they all tend to be extremely similar to one another.

They all have the same color scheme which runs from mustard yellow to orange or brown. They are all adorned with posters and art from their native countries, and they all pipe in Indian music like that Panjabi MC song from a while back (the version without Jay-Z).

Whenever I visit one of these places the music always stands out for me. It’s a strange mix of feelings. I’m not really familiar with Indian music so on a whole it tends to sound alien to me, and yet I’ve gone to Indian curry restaurants enough times that these songs also feel very familiar.

I think a lot of Japanese people feel the same way, which is why Victor Entertainment released a series of CDs featuring the most frequently played songs in Indian curry restaurants in Japan. Different albums of "Indian Curry Shop Background Music" ("Indo Kareya No BGM") contain different areas of Indian music such as "Hold the Rice" which highlights Indian classical music or "Spicy" with its more up-tempo and bass-heavy tracks possibly found in the more trendy curry places.

There’s also "The Road to Maharaja" which contains songs by superstar Rajinikanth.

A new edition, "Indian Curry Shop Background Music: 2020" will be released on Sept 21. It carries an updated track list of the songs that soak into our brains like so much sauce into the crevices of naan.

And so like pizza in America or McSpaghetti in the Philippines, a foreign flavor has become a deeply entrenched part of the Japanese culinary culture. And with the advent of curry shop CDs, who knows if eventually a way will be paved for Indian music or Bollywood to find a home here as well.

Sources: NPR the salt, Tabelog 1, 2, 3, Hachima Kiko, Amass, Victor Entertainment

Read more stories from RocketNews24. -- No time to cook? No problem! Three easy ways to improve instant curry -- From spicy curry to delicious charcoal – 7 bizarre toothpastes on sale in Japan -- Japan’s biggest curry chain now offers a true vegetarian curry

© Japan Today

©2024 GPlusMedia Inc.


5 Comments
Login to comment

Nihon Curry = Gravy + curry powder

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I never understood Japan's obsession with curry is. I guess maybe just because it goes well with rice? I duno, I don't eat the stuff. It reeks.

-1 ( +1 / -2 )

J-curry is so mild

1 ( +1 / -0 )

"It’s not hard to believe that these spiced dishes could almost be considered a “Japanese food” at this point considering there is such a wide range of curries and side dishes served in generous portions at reasonable prices."

Ummm... no, that would make it NON-Japanese food, which by definition must consist of part of a whole meal repackaged as a whole meal itself, and the price jacked up.

I'm happy there are a lot of legitimate Indian and Sri Lankan restaurants because it gives me an ALTERNATIVE to 'Japanese food', and you get a decent amount at a reasonable cost. I just think it's a shame that Indian restaurants are called "Curry Houses" in Japanese, when Indian food has so much more to offer besides.

That said, when it comes to Japanese roux curry, while not bad (especially as a cheap and easy dish to make for family), is not what I would call REAL curry, but I just saw a department store that has a two meter high shelf of hundreds of kinds packed together like books. I just don't see how they are any different from one another, save maybe one is slightly spicier than another; it's like Japanese beer. Asahi can have 12 different types of ale, but they are all basically the same, and there are really only a couple of kinds of beer here total (microbrews aside). Or else it's like the shelves and shelves of white bread that just has different bags.

-3 ( +1 / -4 )

People here have to realize there's more to Indian cuisine than just butter chicken curry and naan. In fact, I've never met an Indian who eats naan at home and I used to work with them and had knew many when I was young. Nothing beats South Indian.

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

Login to leave a comment

Facebook users

Use your Facebook account to login or register with JapanToday. By doing so, you will also receive an email inviting you to receive our news alerts.

Facebook Connect

Login with your JapanToday account

User registration

Articles, Offers & Useful Resources

A mix of what's trending on our other sites