Chickens and Eggs

The chicken was long regarded as sacred in Japan. Today, the bird has lost that mystique, but it remains an essential part of Japanese life. The Japanese have produced remarkable breeds of ornamental chickens. Some are admired for their crowing, others for their appearance. One breed has tail feathers that can reach ten meters long! For a long time, chicken was hardly eaten in Japan, but now it's one of the country's most popular foods. Japanese people also love to eat eggs, cooked or raw. Distinguishing the sex of a newborn chick is a difficult task. When the Japanese developed a method of doing so, they amazed the world and transformed the poultry industry. On this edition of BEGIN Japanology, we'll see what chickens and eggs reveal about Japan's artistic sensibilities and culinary culture.