Top Picks || Arts & Entertainment || Business & Economy || Education & Society || Science & Technology || Sports & Fashion || Search || Back Numbers LOOK WHO'S IN THE KITCHEN: More and More Men Cooking Up Daily Fare December 15, 1998 No stranger to the kitchen, this father prepares a full breakfast for himself every morning. The old Japanese adage "Men don't enter the kitchen" is becoming a thing of the past. Schools offering cooking classes for men are prospering, and the traditional menu choices for men who cook--time-consuming, gourmet dishes usually prepared on the weekends--are giving way to a fresh selection of ordinary fare like miso soup and boiled vegetables. Cooking Schools for Men on the Rise In a downtown Tokyo cooking school operated by the Better Home Association, some 30 men, mostly in their 50s and 60s, are dressed in cooking aprons, kitchen knives at their sides. They are enrolled in a class called "Cooking Basics for Men." The menu of the day is meat and potato stew, boiled spinach in soy sauce, and mushroom and tofu miso soup, all popular items of everyday Japanese fare. The students intently jot down notes as the instructor lectures on the proper way to adjust the flame underneath a covered pot. Since 1992, when the first course was held, the number of attendees has grown by more than 10 times to approximately 3,000 per year. The course began at only a few of the Association's 18 branches; today all of its branches, located in six cities throughout the country, offer male cooking classes. The men cite a variety of reasons for enrolling: their wives have become ill and can no longer cook for them, their companies have transferred them away from their family, or they simply saw a cooking show on TV and decided to give it a whirl. Common among all of them, however, is the satisfaction derived from the taste of food prepared with their own hands. Cookbooks for Men also Popular Cookbooks aimed at the male market are also flying out of bookstores, despite slow sales for cooking guides in general. Many lifestyle magazines publish special volumes for men. One such special publication issued by a magazine in 1995 is already in its ninth edition. The text, "Fundamentals of Cooking for Men," uses many photos and straightforward explanations to describe the most basic of cooking skills, such as how to measure seasonings and judge the correct flame level. Another magazine, Otoko no Shokusai (Tastes for Men), doubles as a textbook for a television cooking show and has recently published popular special features on bread and appetizers for men. Its target reader is a 40-something husband in a dual-income family. The magazine's chief editor remarks, "Foods prepared by males no longer consist mainly of exotic gourmet cuisine prepared on the weekends. In fact, high prices are driving people away from such foods these days. The kinds of foods that men are cooking today are increasingly resembling the simple daily dishes traditionally prepared at home." Food for the Family Many men who are approaching retirement and expecting to have more time to spend with their families are taking up cooking so as to ease the burden of housework on their wives. There are also those who, upon being forced to cook for the first time after their wives become ill, are shocked to find that they are unable to prepare a decent meal. And many younger dual-income couples are choosing to make do on weekdays with take-out food or meals they prepared ahead of time, while spending weekends preparing meals together. As changes in Japanese lifestyle continue to emerge, it looks like the domain of the kitchen will not be confined solely to women. Back to Main Index Edited by Japan Echo Inc. based on domestic Japanese news sources. Articles presented here are offered for reference purposes and do not necessarily represent the policy or views of the Japanese Government. Ministry of Foreign Affairs   Japan Information Network