If nothing else, the Japanese are food snobs.
The food culture here is vast and deep, spawning such professions as "food coordinators," "table specialists" and even "konamono kenkyuka (specialists of flour-related foods)" -- not to mention the obsessive "Ryori no Tetsujin (Iron Chef)" folks.
The long-standing feud between Kanto (eastern Japan) and Kansai (western Japan) dwells largely on the subject of food -- Kansai folks hold that Kanto-style cooking is too coarse and has no subtlety, while the easterners say Kyoto cuisine is too bland and unnourishing.