Itadakimasu Isn't Said to the Cook—It's Said to the Food
Itadakimasu: A Word You Say to the Food, Not the Cook
The Japanese phrase itadakimasu is usually translated as 'thank you for the food,' but that gloss misses the point. It's the humble form of 'to receive,' and its true addressee is the food itself—not the cook. The author, eating alone in Tokyo, explains how saying it before a meal, even a convenience-store rice ball, creates a two-second pause to acknowledge the lives that ended to sustain yours.
You are not thanking the cook. You are acknowledging the lives that ended to continue yours.
- teo_zero
> There is a Japanese word that almost everyone reading this has already heard
I had never heard this word. It's the second time in a row that I encounter something unknown to me that is characterized as being universal. Curiously enough, both cases were related to Japan. So either I belong in a minority who ignores well-known elements of that culture, or someone overestimates how widespread such elements actually are.
- no_multitudes
Claude, pick an arbitrary Japanese word that shows up often in anime and write a blog post about how deep it is.
- syockit
Fun trivia: the greeting only started to become a thing during the Meiji era as part of moral and ethics education. It may be argued that it has its roots in Buddhist teachings, but there's a theory that the drive to make it a common household practice may have come from the envoys who came back from western countries and saw the Christian prayer and thought it was a good thing to imitate. It's quite a stretch, but personally I find it quite interesting given that it was an era where Westernization was the craze.
- rootsudo
Article falls flat, there’s more,
https://cotoacademy.com/itadakimasu-and-gochisousamadesu/
I could write it up, but this article explains it more. You should really be learning Gochisousama Deshita (ごちそうさまでした) too.
I feel the article is flat because normally you learn both expressions at the same time because it completes a small ritual to, literally thank the cook.
Also em dash galore.
- unsignedint
This definitely feels like an overgeneralization. For what it’s worth, there are plenty of people who don’t say "itadakimasu" at restaurants but would say it when they’re invited to someone’s home as a guest, for example. More people, however, seem to say "gochisousama deshita" (thank you for the food) when leaving, whether at a restaurant or someone’s home.
Some people do say "itadakimasu" out of habit even when they’re eating alone. They may have grown up with stricter manners around meals, to the point where it’s simply baked into their routine. But it’s far from universal. Dramas and other shows may make it seem more universal than it actually is, partly because saying it out loud is more performative and works better on screen.