Fat Japs

Cuisine crisis?

Burgers and booze have bloated waistlines so much in Japan's southern island of Okinawa that authorities in the capital have launched a slimming competition.

"In the past, we had a plain and healthy diet, but ever since the American rule, our diet has become Americanized..."

Crap.

I've been there, (more times than I care to count, actually, as well as two other islands), and I've eaten the cuisine. The yakisoba you buy from the street vendors, (a traditional Japanese dish), makes an Ultimate Cheeseburger from Jack-in-the-Box look like a low-cal salad by comparison.

Don't get me wrong; I wolfed the stuff down when I was over there, and I'd seriously consider "disappearing" a minor family member in return for a dish of it today. But blaming American occupation for their cultural habits is disingenuous at best. And, once again, we didn't start the war. We finished it. Even if there were a creditable connection between American occupation and Japanese eating habits, they'd have only themselves to blame for it.