There are many views of what is fundamental to Japanese cuisine. Many think of sushi or the elegant stylized formal kaiseki meals that originated as part of the Japanese tea ceremony. Food in Japan is generally of a very high quality and most Japanese people tend to be quite well informed diners.

A standard Japanese meal nearly always consists of a bowl of cooked white Japanese rice (gohan) as shushoku with accompanying tsukemono (pickles), a bowl of soup, and a variety of dishes known as okazu - fish, meat, vegetable etc.

Traditional Japanese meals are sometimes classified by the number of okazu which accompany the rice and soup. As Japanese meals, especially at the higher end, consist of several small dishes, the concept of a “side dish” is not a part of Japanese meal organization. The simplest Japanese meal, for example, consists of “one soup, one side” or “one dish meal”. This means soup, rice and pickles, and one accompanying dish.