Travel to Japan Blog Articles
The intent of our Travel to Japan articles is to provide essential travel planning information, practical advice and tips for saving money while visiting Japan. Also, we have included strange and unusual tourist attractions that you might be interested in visiting while in Japan. All a travel articles are written by native residents of Japan.

TRAVEL TOPIC: Travel Tips while in Japan

Matsu Ta-ke Ume - A traditional ranking system in Japan

The other day, we did created a small translation for Sushi Aisome Restaurant in Utsunomiya city, in the Tochigi prefecture. I really enjoyed doing this translation, in fact, the translation itself was not so difficult, it was also enjoyable because of the subject content.

Since I personally like these types of traditional restaurants that have a warm and inviting atmosphere, I always hope that tourists visiting Japan have the opportunity to expereince this particular 'authentic and traditional' japanese sushi dining experience.

Instead of having difficulties with understanding words and concepts in the translation, I noticed there were interesting words in the menu of Sushi Aisome, these words are; Matsu(pine tree), Ta-ke(bamboo) and Ume(plum tree), also the 3 names of trees traditionally used in a ranking system in Japan

For example, a star rating is used to rank hotels or restaurants, for example 5 Stars, 4 Stars, 3 Stars etc. The name for 5 trees is Matsu, the name for 4 trees is Ta-ke and the name for 3 trees Ume, in Japanese. These names have the same meaning as the number of stars used for ranking cuisine at Japanese restaurants in the traditional style.

The ranking goes like this:
Rank 1: Matsu (pine tree) - 5 star
Rank 2: Ta-ke (bamboo) - 4 star
Rank 3: Ume (plum tree). -3 star

In most cases, the quality is basically the same for all of them, but the quantity or assortment of foods in dishes are different.

So, if you go to a Japanese restaurant, you might see Matsu Ta-ke and Ume in the menu and a waitress might ask, "Which do you like to have? you have 3 selections Matsu, Ta-ke and Ume."

In each case, you can select one that you like to order.

If you have no budget and can afford expensive cuisine, you should select Matsu.

If you a economical traveler and on a budget, you can select Ume.

Well, even if you forget about Matsu, Ta-ke, Ume, you will find the difference by seeing the price. : ) Any ways, this would be of help when you go to a traditional Japanese restaurant in Japan.

Posted by digi-escape at November 6, 2005 11:15 AM
All Travel to Japan articles were written by staff of digi-escape.