is one of three basic styles of
Japanese cuisine
Japanese cuisine encompasses the regional and traditional foods of Japan, which have developed through centuries of political, economic, and social changes. The traditional cuisine of Japan (Japanese: ) is based on rice with miso soup and oth ...
and a highly ritualized form of serving food, in which prescribed dishes are carefully arranged and served on legged trays; full-course dinner, regular dinner. Honzen has largely disappeared since the mid 20th century, though a few restaurants still serve what they bill as ''honzen ryōri''. It largely survives today as one of the main influences of
kaiseki
or is a traditional multi-course Japanese dinner. The term also refers to the collection of skills and techniques that allow the preparation of such meals and is analogous to Western haute cuisine.
There are two kinds of traditional Japanese ...
cuisine.
History
Honzen arose among warrior households in the Muromachi period (14th century), in contrast to the earlier (9th century) of the aristocracy. This corresponded with the rise and subsequent entrenchment of the power of the warrior class viz-a-viz the nobility.
During the
Muromachi period
The is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate (''Muromachi bakufu'' or ''Ashikaga bakufu''), which was officially established in 1338 by t ...
after the shōgun
Ashikaga Yoshimitsu
was the third '' shōgun'' of the Ashikaga shogunate, ruling from 1368 to 1394 during the Muromachi period of Japan. Yoshimitsu was Ashikaga Yoshiakira's third son but the oldest son to survive, his childhood name being Haruō (). Yoshimitsu ...
in the 14th century, developed an elaborate formal system of meal-serving, known as (.
[ (world encyclopedia, in Japanese)] It would begin with the ,
[, Chap. 3, Ceremonial Banquets, p.61-; 66-] the remnant of which is the exchanged between the groom in the bride in traditional Japanese weddings. A typical pattern is , which may refer to three trays bearing with 7, 5, and 3 dishes,
[ though there seems to be different interpretations, and others have suggested this indicates the triple round of drinks, followed by 5 rounds, then by 7 trays.][ The meals for guests are served on , where the tray (technically called ) is supported underneath by a boxlike frame with three of the sides hollowed by large holes. A quadruple-holed tray-set would be reserved for the Imperial house.][
Honzen has mostly fallen out of practice in the post-]World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
period.[
]
References
External links
Hyper Tokyo: A Look at the Closing Gap on Japanese CultureKiea.jp, Traditional Japanese Cuisine
PDF format
Japanese cuisine terms
{{Japan-cuisine-stub