About Omuraisu!
[omu-raisu] N. Omuraisu is a japanese term borrowed from the french word omelette and english word rice. It is a popular dish consisting of an omelette filled with ketchup-flavoured fried rice mixed with various vegetables, meat or chicken. Omuraisu is commonly and easily cooked at home or can be found at many restaurants and izakaya. Actually, there are even restaurants which serve nothing except omuraisu in different flavors.
To me, omuraisu reflects a typical cultural characteristic commonly attributed to japanese people: the ability to assimilate foreign influences and incorporate them into their own culture. Even though this point is hard to prove and might amount to nothing more than a cliché, I think it is still tangible enough to be considered valid. That said, I want to elaborate further on the symbolism that I see contained in the concept of omuraisu.
Ketchup. In my opinion, there aren't many aliments symbolising fast, modern, globalized food culture more than ketchup does. A popular, if not the most popular condiment in western countries, ketchup as we know it today has existed for roughly 200 years. The big players in the ketchup business are corporations from the USA, and so are the big fast food chains which serve ketchup along their meals. I state this because of the tendency in globalisation critics to name the USA the root of all evil, a fact that, overgeneralisation left aside, supports my point of calling ketchup a symbol of popular western globalised culture.
Rice. The most consumed cultivated crop on the planet, rice is the backbone of nutrition in many countries. In Japan, rice not only has a long history as a staple food, but is and was of major spiritual importance. Rice and rice products such as sake, rice wine, have been used in offerings to the deities of shintoism and buddhism today and throughout history. So much for the rice. I don't have much to say about the egg, other people have done so far more sophisticated than I ever could. Try Google.
In conclusion, I think we can agree that with omuraisu, we have something entirely traditionally japanese, combined with something most certainly modern and western - making it an appropriate symbol for 21st century japanese culture. And if you want to understand a culture, why not start with their food?