I wonder if Japan's obsession with Food TV is the vestige of some kind of cultural memory of food shortages and starvation after WWII?

See, this is what happens when you're reading a history of the post WWII occupation in Japan, are channel surfing on a lazy Sunday morning, and have read entirely too many Jungian psych books.

Of the 5 national channels this AM, 3 have food related programs. Consider, if at any one time, in the US, if CBS, FOX, and the CW were running Food Network style shows...

For the record, we've got a ramen making contest on one station, a review of Hawaiian restaurants on another, and the final channel has the standard "let's watch as B-list celebrities sit around and evaluate a multi-course meal. Course by course."

Japan just loves it's Food TV. It is the nation that brought you the Iron Chef. Tip of the iceberg, that.