Obanzai

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Obanzai (おばんざい) is a traditional Kyoto home-cooked style of food. To be called obanzai, at least half of the ingredients must come from Kyoto and be in season. It mainly uses vegetables and seafood and is prepared in a simple way. It also often uses ingredients that people normally throw away. The word obanzai first appeared in 1964, when Shige Ōmura and others used it in a newspaper article to describe Kyoto’s traditional home cooking. Traditionally, obanzai is made with five core spiritual elements in mind.