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My Japanese friends were telling me yesterday that a certain fish is considered to be a "happy food" - ie you eat it when you are happy. I was asked about my country, and "do you have happy food in your country". And suddenly I couldn't answer. Anyone help out -happy foods, anyone?

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I think they mean 'celebratory food'. That is, food whose kanji name has some happy association suitable for a celebration. The concept really has no equivalent in the West, although traditionally certain foods are often associated with celebrations.

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Theres lots of food for special occasions but not any special foods... ie.. Chocolate! thats happy! also used in Easter and Valentines day and all the other occasions.

theres Turkey in america thats very tradtional for christmas! and a leg of ham is popular in Australia for christmas...along with all the other things like prawns and salads and a BBQ!

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Yeah, but cake is eaten because it tastes good and makes you happy, and not because the 'a' in 'cake' also appears in the word 'happy'. That's why Japanese claim to eat that chewy tasteless fish - because its name is propitious. I'd rather eat katsuo tataki to celebrate personally...

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