Kitaōji Rosanjin | Translation Archive 00002 | Cooking | Shard 00003

American Steaks & Chops, 1954 | Excerpt

Translated from the Japanese by Christopher Southward, Summer 2026

Upon arriving in New York City, I was immediately impressed by the Americans’ dutiful approach to eating.

Take Manhattan, where drugstores occupy the corners of every city block. As you know, drugstores here sell everything from medications to postage stamps to dry goods, sodas, and ice cream. You can even sit down and enjoy a light meal if you so please. These stores are largely designed with a walk-up lunch counter positioned on the left as you enter, where a glance will show you diners ordering, say, hamburgers, cake, and glasses of orange juice, all of which they scarf down before breaking for the door and vanishing into the crowd.

You can walk into a Manhattan drugstore and fill up for less than two bucks, and if you’re in the mood for breakfast, you can have a satisfying meal of toast for ten, ham and eggs for thirty, and coffee for twenty cents.