--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The Japanese have become so smitten with…" description: "\"The Japanese have become so smitten with the Western condiment - its texture as silky as a kimono, its tang as understated as the tang of Zen - that to..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bc/tom-robbins-169_condiments_the-japanese-have-become-so-smitten-with_3024415.jpg" --- # The Japanese have become so smitten with the Western… ![“The Japanese have become so smitten with the Western condiment - its texture as silky as a kimono, its tang as understated as the tang of Zen - that today they have a word for mayonnaise junkie: mayora.” quote by Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bc/tom-robbins-169_condiments_the-japanese-have-become-so-smitten-with_3024415.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bc/tom-robbins-169_condiments_the-japanese-have-become-so-smitten-with_3024415.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bc/tom-robbins-169_condiments_the-japanese-have-become-so-smitten-with_3024415.jpg) > “The Japanese have become so smitten with the Western condiment - its texture as silky as a kimono, its tang as understated as the tang of Zen - that today they have a word for mayonnaise junkie: mayora.” [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Japanese culture embraces Western mayo, likening its silky texture to a kimono and its subtle tang to Zen, coining “mayora” for enthusiasts. **In simple terms:** Japanese love mayo, call fans “mayora”. Key Takeaway Appreciate cultural mash‑ups that create new vocabularies. Themes culture food globalization language Mood playful observational Type essay cultural commentary When to use this quote - food marketing - cross‑cultural studies - language evolution Key Concepts sociology culinary arts Questions to Reflect On - What does “mayora” reveal about cultural exchange? - How do food trends shape identity? A Different Perspective Cultural appropriation concerns may arise. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Condiments](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/condiments/) [Food](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/food/) [Funny](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/funny/) [Humorous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/humorous/) [Japan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/japan/) [Japanese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/japanese/) [Kimonos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kimonos/) [Today](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/today/) [Western](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/western/) ## Related quotes > [I have always wanted to write a book that ended with the word 'mayonnaise.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brautigan/i-have-always-wanted-to-write-a-book-that-ended-with-the-word/) [Richard Brautigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brautigan/) > [“I always wanted to write a book that ended with the word Mayonnaise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-brautigan/i-always-wanted-to-write-a-book-that-ended-with-the-word-mayonnaise/) [Richard Brautigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-brautigan/) > [He had never looked forward to the wisdom and other vaunted benefits of old age. Would he be able to die young—and if possible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yukio-mishima/he-had-never-looked-forward-to-the-wisdom-and-other-vaunted-benefits/) [Yukio Mishima](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yukio-mishima/) > [But what I could see out of the corner of my eye made me think of two lovely bundles of silk floating along a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-golden/but-what-i-could-see-out-of-the-corner-of-my-eye-made-me-think-of-two/) [Arthur Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-golden/) > [I've been wearing kimono for several years, and armor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hiroyuki-sanada/i-ve-been-wearing-kimono-for-several-years-and-armor/) [Hiroyuki Sanada](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hiroyuki-sanada/) > [The Red Kimono tells it all—the bitterness and pain as well as the joy, pride and patriotism of a people too resilient to be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sandra-dallas/the-red-kimono-tells-it-all-the-bitterness-and-pain-as-well-as-the/) [Sandra Dallas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sandra-dallas/) > [“From where he lay on his tatami mat, he could see her in profile. Her dark hair was down, spilling around her tiny shoulders,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hagberg/from-where-he-lay-on-his-tatami-mat-he-could-see-her-in-profile-her/) David Hagberg > [I think the silhouette of the kimono costume will become engraved in people's minds. I do think there'll be lots of red accents in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-atwood/i-think-the-silhouette-of-the-kimono-costume-will-become-engraved-in/) [Colleen Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-atwood/) > [Some of the kimonos took as long as four to five months to make, with all the layers that go into it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colleen-atwood/some-of-the-kimonos-took-as-long-as-four-to-five-months-to-make-with/) [Colleen Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colleen-atwood/) > [She was sitting cross-legged on her bed in her white kimono, writing in a notebook with an ink pen she dipped in a bottle.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/janet-fitch/she-was-sitting-cross-legged-on-her-bed-in-her-white-kimono-writing/) [Janet Fitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/janet-fitch/) > [Sabi is the color of haikai. It is different from tranquility. For example, if an old man dresses up in armor and helmet and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matsuo-basho/sabi-is-the-color-of-haikai-it-is-different-from-tranquility-for/) [Matsuo Basho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matsuo-basho/) > [Women who wear kimonos, when the fight, they have to keep their knees together, and when they use a sword, they have to move…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-liu/women-who-wear-kimonos-when-the-fight-they-have-to-keep-their-knees/) [Lucy Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-liu/) > [I am a camera with its shutter open, quite passive, recording, not thinking. Recording the man shaving at the window opposite and the woman…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-isherwood/i-am-a-camera-with-its-shutter-open-quite-passive-recording-not/) [Christopher Isherwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-isherwood/) > [The neck is kind of what's sexy in Japan, so you have to have the kimono a little bit back. It was just a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lucy-liu/the-neck-is-kind-of-what-s-sexy-in-japan-so-you-have-to-have-the/) [Lucy Liu](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lucy-liu/) > [It's more than just a dress; it's a spirit. The wrap dress was an interesting cultural phenomenon, and one that has lasted 30 years.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/diane-von-furstenberg/it-s-more-than-just-a-dress-it-s-a-spirit-the-wrap-dress-was-an/) [Diane von Furstenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/diane-von-furstenberg/) ## More by Tom Robbins > [There are times when we can feel destiny close around us like a fist around a doorknob. Sure, we can resist. But a knob…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/there-are-times-when-we-can-feel-destiny-close-around-us-like-a-fist/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/love-is-the-ultimate-outlaw-it-just-won-t-adhere-to-any-rules-the/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [The party in Alobar’s head, which agitation and anxiety were throwing, now was crashed by a notion: existence can be rearranged.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-party-in-alobar-s-head-which-agitation-and-anxiety-were-throwing/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [The world is a wonderfully weird place, consensual reality is significantly flawed, no institution can be trusted, certainty is a mirage, security a delusion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-world-is-a-wonderfully-weird-place-consensual-reality-is/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Anyone who maintains absolute standards of good and evil is dangerous. As dangerous as a maniac with a loaded revolver.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/anyone-who-maintains-absolute-standards-of-good-and-evil-is-dangerous/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“I believe in everything; nothing is sacred. I believe in nothing; everything is sacred. Ha Ha Ho Ho Hee Hee.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/i-believe-in-everything-nothing-is-sacred-i-believe-in-nothing/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [A sense of humor...is superior to any religion so far devised.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/a-sense-of-humor-is-superior-to-any-religion-so-far-devised/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“Love is the ultimate outlaw. It just won't adhere to any rules. The most any of us can do is to sign on as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/love-is-the-ultimate-outlaw-it-just-won-t-adhere-to-any-rules-the-2/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“The glue that holds the natural world together appears to be a harmonious balance of opposites: day and night, light and dark, winter and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-glue-that-holds-the-natural-world-together-appears-to-be-a/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Zippers are primal and modern at the very same time. On the one hand, your zipper is primitive and reptilian, on the other, mechanical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/zippers-are-primal-and-modern-at-the-very-same-time-on-the-one-hand/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [“religion is a paramount contributor to human misery. It is not merely the opium of the masses, it is the cyanide.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/religion-is-a-paramount-contributor-to-human-misery-it-is-not-merely/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [She continued weeping until the heat of her tear water, the sheer velocity of its flow, finally obscured the already vague circumstances of its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/she-continued-weeping-until-the-heat-of-her-tear-water-the-sheer/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [The bottom line is that (a) people are never perfect, but love can be, (b) that is the one and only way that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-bottom-line-is-that-a-people-are-never-perfect-but-love-can-be-b/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [Virtually every advancement made by our species since civilization first peeked out of its nest of stone has been initiated by lone individuals, mavericks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/virtually-every-advancement-made-by-our-species-since-civilization/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) > [When we accept small wonders, we qualify ourselves to imagine great wonders.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/when-we-accept-small-wonders-we-qualify-ourselves-to-imagine-great/) [Tom Robbins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) [Explore all 994 Tom Robbins quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/) ## More Condiments quotes > [I'm not a person who writes really abstract things with oblique references. I look at abstraction like I look at condiments. Give me some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wynton-marsalis/i-m-not-a-person-who-writes-really-abstract-things-with-oblique/) [Wynton Marsalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wynton-marsalis/) > [I use a lot of fresh citrus, garlic, and fresh herbs when cooking to cut down on fat and sodium but punch up flavor.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cat-cora/i-use-a-lot-of-fresh-citrus-garlic-and-fresh-herbs-when-cooking-to/) [Cat Cora](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cat-cora/) > [“Keep favorite condiments on hand, such as ketchup, mayonnaise, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar and salsa.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-crocker/keep-favorite-condiments-on-hand-such-as-ketchup-mayonnaise-mustard/) Betty Crocker > [Even the choicest literature should be taken as the condiment, and not as the sustenance of life. It should be neither the warp nor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/horace-mann/even-the-choicest-literature-should-be-taken-as-the-condiment-and-not/) [Horace Mann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/horace-mann/) > [No doubt other writers have often put a thing more brilliantly, more subtly than even a very cunning artist in words can hope to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ethel-smyth/no-doubt-other-writers-have-often-put-a-thing-more-brilliantly-more/) [Ethel Smyth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ethel-smyth/) > [Then there came a faraway, booming voice like a low, clear bell. It came from the center of the bowl and down the great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/then-there-came-a-faraway-booming-voice-like-a-low-clear-bell-it-came/) [F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/) > [A check on itself, evil subserves the economies of good, as it were a condiment to give relish to good.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amos-bronson-alcott/a-check-on-itself-evil-subserves-the-economies-of-good-as-it-were-a/) [Amos Bronson Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amos-bronson-alcott/) > [“A house full of condiments and no real food. If you don't know what you want, you end up with a lot you don't.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/a-house-full-of-condiments-and-no-real-food-if-you-don-t-know-what/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [Condiments are like old friends - highly thought of, but often taken for granted.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilyn-kaytor/condiments-are-like-old-friends-highly-thought-of-but-often-taken-for/) Marilyn Kaytor > [For a gourmet wine is not a drink but a condiment, provided that your host has chosen correctly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edouard-de-pomiane/for-a-gourmet-wine-is-not-a-drink-but-a-condiment-provided-that-your/) Edouard de Pomiane > [I would never try to make ketchup from scratch. Or Dijon mustard, for that matter. These condiments, and plenty of others, are hard to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-morocco/i-would-never-try-to-make-ketchup-from-scratch-or-dijon-mustard-for/) [Chris Morocco](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-morocco/) > [We don't want you convicted for condiment theft. You go to that prison, you'll meet big-time operators. Maple syrup stealers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deb-caletti/we-don-t-want-you-convicted-for-condiment-theft-you-go-to-that-prison/) [Deb Caletti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deb-caletti/) > [Strange that mankind should ever have used the mushroom. All the various species of this substance are of a leathery consistence, and contain but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-alcott/strange-that-mankind-should-ever-have-used-the-mushroom-all-the/) [William Alcott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-alcott/) > [Condiments are ment to be enjoyed no matter what you put them on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-lb/condiments-are-ment-to-be-enjoyed-no-matter-what-you-put-them-on/) Doug LB > [Sesame oil is probably my favorite condiment, period.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ted-allen/sesame-oil-is-probably-my-favorite-condiment-period/) [Ted Allen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ted-allen/) [Browse all 35 Condiments quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/condiments/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The Japanese have become so smitten with the Western condiment - its texture as silky as a kimono, its tang as understated as the tang of Zen - that today they have a word for mayonnaise junkie: mayora.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Tom Robbins" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-japanese-have-become-so-smitten-with-the-western-condiment-its/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Condiments" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-japanese-have-become-so-smitten-with-the-western-condiment-its/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bc/tom-robbins-169_condiments_the-japanese-have-become-so-smitten-with_3024415.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bc/tom-robbins-169_condiments_the-japanese-have-become-so-smitten-with_3024415.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5bc/tom-robbins-169_condiments_the-japanese-have-become-so-smitten-with_3024415.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The Japanese have become so smitten with the Western condiment - its texture as silky as a kimono, its tang…” — Tom Robbins", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Tom Robbins", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-robbins/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The Japanese have become so smitten...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-japanese-have-become-so-smitten-with-the-western-condiment-its/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-robbins/the-japanese-have-become-so-smitten-with-the-western-condiment-its/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```