Are there any similarities in Finnish and Japanese food cultures? Yes, there is. Both countries have very high-quality food. Mostly Japanese and Finnish foods are very different kind of food. The biggest difference between those two food cultures is probably spices. Japanese food is spicier than Finnish food.

Traditional foods

Traditional Finnish foods are for example Karelian pie, mämmi and sauteed reindeer. Usually, Finns still don’t eat sauteed reindeer or mämmi. Typical food in Finland is meatballs and mashed potatoes or something like that. Finnish people eat lots of potatoes when Japanese people eat more rice and noodles.

Eating habits

The biggest difference between Finnish and Japanese eating habits is chopsticks. Chopsticks are much more popular than knife and fork in Japan. If you are going to eat with Japanese people don’t point anyone with chopsticks and don’t put the chopsticks in an upright position for rice. It is rude in Japanese culture.