The Japanese pause before a meal begins to show respect and thankfulness for the food they are about to eat and say
itadakimasu 頂きます [いただきます] - "I humbly receive the gift of this food" .
It is expressing gratitude to the person who has made the food for you, but also for the life of the plants or animals which consist of this food. Itadakimasu, in its original meaning means "to receive and consume life." The word infers gratitude for having received the meal while acknowledging the life that was taken and displaying remorse.
In reality this show of respect has lost its meaning for the Japanese and they keep on saying these words each time out of habit and as a type of ceremonial form. The deep meaning has been completely lost.As many things in Japan today it is style and form over substance.
As a matter of fact only relatively recently have Japanese started raising animals such as cows, pigs and chicken and consuming their meat. Until about century ago (I'm not completely sure about the exact timeline) they only consumed fish, but out of Buddhist compassion they did not consume other animals. But now meat is quite commonplace for the Japanese and many "traditional" dishes are made with pork, veal or chicken. In fact it is almost impossible to find any food or even a snack that doesn't have any meat or fish in it. As I have mentioned already, it is very hard to be a vegetarian in Japan.
When I learned about the meaning of "itadakimasu" it really got me to thinking deeply about how little we humans are responsible for things we do daily. How little acknowledgement and gratitude we have that what we have is taken or given by other species. The clothes we wear, the houses we built, the food we eat. The indifference and ignorance we spend our lives in.
I don't want to sound like an activist,I just feel that we spend our lives in complete ignorance and fail to acknowledge even basic things that comprise our lives.
Are we only destroyers who arrogantly and greedily take?
Actually the key is to be more aware, less ignorant, more responsible and much more humble...
Just now I read another article that comments on the issue of Japanese whaling, opposed by many wildlife protectors and an issue that often makes the headlines including today.
Australia 'disappointed' at Japan whaling missionThere has been a lot of talk about how Japanese hunt and kill whales and dolphins. I have been following this issue for a few years and it always stirs a lot of thoughts in me. Actually many though not necessarily connected with Japanese whaling per se, but with the bigger issue of humans cruelty towards sentient beings.
As to the Japanese whaling. It is a very controversial issue that raises a lot of questions.
Whales and dolphins are not fish, they are mammals, actually quite intelligent mammals...That is the reason for the international uproar each time there is a report of Japanese hunting and killing them. That and the cruelty.
But to me, it is a bit hypocritical to feel compassionate and fight for the life of one or two species, but overlook the hundreds of tones of other ocean and sea animals killed each day.
Many activists (sometimes quite militant) try to disrupt Japanese from whaling, which by the way is internationally outlawed, but some Scandinavian countries have not signed to it, or as in the case of Japan are using a loophole and under the pretext of "scientific research" keep on killing whales on an annual quota.
It has been going on for years.
So it is not actually news.
But today again I came upon a headline raising the question and couldn't help but remark...
One of the arguments the Japanese use is that whale (and dolphin) meat eating is a cultural thing for the Japanese. An argument that looked from the point of view of "cultural differences" sounds fair to raise, since indeed people differ in their cultural understanding about which meat to eat. It is a "cultural thing" for some Asians to eat dogs and cats (Vietnamese, Korean, Chinese), as it is a "cultural thing" for the French to eat horse meat, snails and frogs for instance. In a way those eating habits will be considered barbaric by some, but in the mentioned countries they are a "cultural thing"...So, having established in all fairness that indeed while for some eating dogs is quite routine, for others is absolutely unimaginable, is it fair to accept this as a "cultural difference"? I would say no. Not because I think there is a cultural standard by which cultural habits should be measured, but because cruelty to any animal is wrong. Not differentiating whether it is whales or dolphins, or dogs, or horses...What about the millions of pigs, cows and chickens that die each day?!!
I usually avoid directly confronting people about eating meat.
But when I do, the question I always ask is if they feel OK fully knowing and understanding that the meat they eat comes from an animal that was killed usually suffering great pain. Many people just don't even make the connection that “chicken is chicken,” and also that beef is cows and pork is pigs.
If someone who knows that clearly and says he/she accepts this fact and takes full responsibility, then I have nothing else to say. It is indeed their choice. I don't and can't respect that choice, but there is nothing you can do when someone says he is indifferent to cruelty, pain and feels no compassion.
But I get much more angry at people who are completely ignorant (usually choose to be intentionally so) that each day through their act of consuming meat they cause the suffering and pain of sentient beings. Those people often actually "like" some species of animals, even keep animals as pets. And by a very twisted logic and ignorance they fail to see that there is absolutely no difference between a cute little cat or puppy and a calf or a piglet.
There are people who justify eating meat because they think meat tastes so good, an argument that I find outright insane because it completely ignores and directly justifies the fact that a life has been taken just for taste.
Outright speciests (the most arrogant and ignorant defenders of meat eating) say that humans are on the top of the food chain and this justifies humans in eating and exploiting the rest of the species.
And I get even more angry at people who simply shrug their shoulders telling me that eating meat has been in humans culture for thousands of years which is a proof for it being "natural"...
This argument is of course ridiculous for the same reason why slavery or cannibalism for instance are considered unthinkable now.
Humans can and should evolve!
Within our own species, only 100 years ago women had no rights and were considered inferior to men. (In some countries this has not changed yet). Does it mean that given the history of the fact that women were considered second rate human beings for centuries it is a valid argument for it staying like this forever?!
I believe that the same goes for consuming meat.
Humans have evolved very much since the times that they had to depend on hunting for animals to sustain their lives. It was done out of not having much other choice.
But in 21st century, we have much more choices.
And if not for ethical reasons humans should and need to reconsider their meat consummation in the near future, since data shows that raising animals for their meat is unsustainable and ruining for our Planet. So if not out of compassion we should evolve in consideration of the fact that there is no way current consummation of meat and fish can be sustained.
Going back to Japan and
itadakimasu.
Eating fish is really big in Japan. If you enter any Japanese supermarket the thing that immediately "impresses" is the huge quantity and diversity of fish and fresh or prosessed sea food...I'm really wondering : how much of this fish meat is left unsold and is wasted?
How humble and grateful are we for the gifts that we receive?
These two photos are of (very cute moss covered) stone images of "Jizo", a child image of the Bodhisatva Jizo 地藏菩萨 who out of compassion willingly entered Hell in order to save all sentient beings there...In Japan he is especially associated with saving children, and people often make little Jizo statues such as those as a remembrance for a lost child... 
This is another photo taken on Wednesday at Sanzen In (in Ohara) and at the stone statue at the back is actually a statue of the "grown-up" version of Jizo Bodhisatva... 
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