Tweet of the Week #55: A Sweet Tooth (Literally)

As the saying 目（め）で食（た）べる (“eat with your eyes”) goes, food presentation is considered to be very important in Japan. Japanese culinary tradition is built upon the idea that eating should be a full sensory experience. Apparently, this is backed up by several scientific studies that demonstrate how eye-pleasing meals can influence both the speed and amount that you eat.

The wonderful world of wagashi

Japanese traditional sweets, known as wagashi (和菓子（わがし）), are a perfect example of how Japanese food culture is about so much more than filling your stomach. Made from wheat, rice, beans, and sugar, wagashi come in all sorts of shapes and flavors—but are always absolute works of art.

After the Meiji era, Japan was quick to adopt western sweets and these days we’re probably more familiar with popular choices like Pocky, Koala’s March cookies and, of course, regional Kit Kats.

To keep up with the competition from mass producers, more and more wagashi shops are breaking with tradition and starting to get pretty creative. And sometimes, they can count on their clients for inspiration—however weird the request might be!

Sweet teeth?

First confused as hell during this phone call, this confectionary maker decided to make his client’s wish for a new wagashi product come true.

以前お客様との電話対応にて📞

客「 はを作っていただきたいのですが… 」

私「 葉ですか？今の季節なら紅葉が素敵ですよ。 」

客「 そっちの葉ではないです…口の歯です。 」

私「 は・・・！？ 」

ということで今日は１１月８日【いい歯の日】です✨

中はこし餡🐥
今月末まで販売いたします🍡 pic.twitter.com/dgubZLxCJd

— 三宅正晃｜御菓子司 紅谷三宅 (@beniyamiyake) November 7, 2019

以前（いぜん）お客様（きゃくさま）との電話（でんわ）対応（たいおう）にて

客（きゃく）「 はを作（つく）っていただきたいのですが… 」

私（わたし）「 葉（は）ですか？今（いま）の季節（きせつ）なら紅葉（もみじ）が素敵（すてき）ですよ。 」

客「 そっちの葉（は）ではないです…口（くち）の歯（は）です。 」

私「 は・・・！？ 」

ということで今日（きょう）は11月（じゅういちがつ）8日（ようか）【いい歯の日（ひ）】です

中（なか）はこし餡（あん）

今月末（こんげつまつ）まで販売（はんばい）いたします

= A previous phone call with a client

Client “I’d like you to make teeth please…”

Me “You mean leaf? In this season, red leaves are surely really exquisite.”

Client “Not that “ha”, I’m talking about teeth in a mouth.” 

Me “Ha… ?!”

Well, today’s November 8th which is “Good Teeth Day”

I’ve filled them with bean paste and will sell them until the end of the month. 

In a highly contextual culture that relies on implicit, non-verbal communication, Japanese homophones are far too common and even native speakers get confused once in a while. In this case, the customer requested は which can actually mean “tooth/teeth” or “leaf.”

November 8 is in fact “Good Teeth Day,” a faux holiday generated by teeth-whitening services and dentists to market their products. It comes from 1 (i) 1 (i), the 11th month, which makes “ii” (good) and the 8th day (hachi) to make “ha” (teeth.)

How to agree on context in Japanese

When you want to use a contextual conditional—basically saying something will happen given the right conditions—you can use the particle なら which translates to “if” or “in this case” “if that’s the case.”

なら uses the clause stating the conditions and is followed by the conditional results: 

• 夏なつの旅行りょこうなら沖縄おきなわがいいです = For a summer trip, Okinawa is good
• 行（い）くなら、私も行きます！= If you go, I’ll go!

Vocabulary

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