<P> The tea ceremony kaiseki (懐石) is often confounded with another kaiseki - ryōri (会席 料理), which is an outgrowth of meals served at a gathering for haiku and renga composition, which turned into a term for sumptuous sake - accompanied banquet, or shuen (酒宴). </P> <P> Strictly vegetarian food is rare since even vegetable dishes are flavored with the ubiquitous dashi stock, usually made with katsuobushi (dried skipjack tuna flakes), and are therefore pescetarian more often than carnivorous . An exception is shōjin - ryōri (精進 料理), vegetarian dishes developed by Buddhist monks . However, the advertised shōjin - ryōri at public eating places includes some non-vegetarian elements . Regarding vegetarianism, it is worth mentioning fucha - ryōri (普 茶 料理), introduced from China by the Ōbaku sect (a sub-sect of Zen Buddhism), and which some sources still regard as part of "Japanese cuisine". The sect in Japan was founded by the priest Ingen (d . 1673), and is headquartered in Uji, Kyoto . The Japanese name for the common green bean takes after this priest who allegedly introduced the New World crop via China . An interesting aspect of the fucha - ryōri practiced at the temple is the wealth of modoki - ryōri (もどき 料理, "mock foods"), one example being mock - eel, made from strained tofu, with nori seaweed used expertly to mimic the black skin . The secret ingredient used is grated gobō (burdock) roots . </P> <P> Dr. Masakazu Tada, Honorary Vice-President of the International Vegetarian Union for 25 years from 1960, stated that "Japan was vegetarian for a 1,000 years". Although this is not totally true, British journalist J. W. Robertson Scott reported in the 1920s that the society was 90% vegetarian. 50--60% of the population ate fish only on festive occasions, probably more because of poverty than for any other reason . </P> <P> Rice has been the staple food for the Japanese historically . Its fundamental importance is evident from the fact that the word for cooked rice, gohan and meshi, also stands for a "meal". While rice has a long history of cultivation in Japan, its use as a staple has not been universal . Notably, in northern areas (northern Honshū and Hokkaidō), other grain such as wheat were more common into the 19th century . </P>

What is the most eaten food in japan