24th September 2024
Before eating, Japanese people say “itadakimasu,” a polite phrase meaning
“I receive this food.”
This standard phrase before a meal, comes from the verb, “itadaku”, a humble way of saying, to eat and receive.
The person who prepared the meal would reply, “Douzo meshiagare” which means, “Please help yourself.”
This expresses thanks to whoever worked to prepare the food in the meal and those who receive it.
Joining our hands in thanksgiving is a simple and humble gesture with a profound meaning and a worldwide reach. Thanksgiving before a meal is a simple gesture of joining our palms and bowing our heads in gratitude before a meal which essentially signifies saying thank you to all of those connected directly and indirectly with bringing our meal to us.
The sun, water, air and earth,
The farm hands who toiled to grow the produce,
The hands that cleaned and packed the produce,
A chain of warehousing and transportation systems across the world and the store keepers,
Those who worked hard to earn the money to buy the food (this could include us) and those who stood by the fire and cooked it (once again this could be us).
If it isn’t already, try to make ‘itadakimasu’ a regular practice in your home & stay blessed forever.