Kebab is Invading Japan

Turkey like Taiwan thinks kindly of Japan and so perhaps is its food to the Japanese. No wonder kebab, a typical Turkey dish, is so well received in Japan.

Kebab stalls are everywhere now alongside MacDonald, Yoshinoya and Chinese restaurants. Why is it so popular and what is kebab anyway?

Kebab is hard to define as it comes in different styles, In short, it is a chunk of meat, beef or chicken, skewered and rotated. The Japanese favor doner kebab with slices of meat chopped out of the chunk made into sandwiches.

Stalls compete for one another with what vegetable to go with the meat. Pita is the kind of bread that goes well with kebab meat.

Last year the Kabab Grand Prix had its first event with 132 stalls participating with their own kebabs and again this year Tokyo's Okubo Park will stage its second competition in November in collaboration with the Turkey Festival. The organizers expect well over 13 stalls to join the event.

It is not that more Turks are around lately. Experts say the franchise system has much to do with the trend.

Star Kebab in Akihabara, the # 1 kebab stall in last year's Kebab Grand Prix, has more foreign customers and not a few Japanese in high age brackets who know little of kebab.

One of the staff, a Turk from Denizli, says the stall is particular business on holidays.

Kebab is a must in such summer festivals as Fuji Rock Summer Sonic and Rockin'. Five kebab stalls opened in this year's Tokyo Summer Sonic (held in Chiba).

At the Food Show in the Game Show 2015 in September two kebab stalls opened and were queued up on from early morning.

The kebab craze is spreading also in Florence, Italy, and other parts of the world. It is not unlikely that this Turkish food will shortly settle in Japan for good.

News Source: Nikkan SPA