Many travellers and food aficionados across the globe would agree that Japan is home to a variety of delicious, fresh and healthy cuisines. Being one of the most popular and leading culinary countries in the world, millions of tourists worldwide come to visit Japan year in and year out in order to try their world famous delicacies. Japanese food is known to offer a one-of-a-kind gastronomical experience to locals and foreign tourists alike. Among their iconic dishes are sushi, tempura and ramen.
In recent years, another mouth-watering Japanese dish, “gyoza” gained popularity especially among young Japanese women and tourists. Gyoza consists of mini dumplings filled with ground meat, vegetables and other ingredients. The cities of Utsonomiya and Hamamatsu are two of the biggest consumers of gyoza in Japan. According to the Japanese Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, a single household in Hamamatsu consumes about 3,501 yen worth of gyoza.
Numerous gyoza specialty restaurants and shops can be seen around major cities and tourist spots all over Japan. More and more Japanese women drop by these dumpling shops for lunch or they order gyoza with beer in the evening. Gyoza has also become a trending topic among Japanese female netizens. A local news report quoted Naomi, a Japanese college student who said that “I’ve become fixated on the gyoza that people are posting on social media. These days I’ve been prowling through SNSs to hunt for gyoza specialty shops where I can go to eat.”
With the gyoza boom, a new terminology, “gyojo” was coined pertaining to female fanatics of this Japanese dumpling. The gyojo emerged because over these past few years, women took an active part in planning the menus at local food service establishments. In order to cater to the preferences of Japanese women, some gyoza specialty shops include garlic-free gyoza or healthy salad gyoza in their menus.
Due to the increasing popularity of gyoza in Japan, a series of “Gyoza Festa” events open for both locals and international tourists are set to take place in Tokyo, Osaka and Hiroshima during the Golden Week celebration.
Reference: ‘Gyo-jo’ reflect gyoza’s popularity among young females
