Housewives beware: Japan's online osechi fiasco

Nothing seems to rile Japanese more than poorly prepared food -- as proven by the heinous osechi crime (false advertising in the extreme) that has filled media columns and blog rolls in the first weeks of the new year.

Osechi refers to traditional Japanese food put in to a special lunch box called jubako, to symbolize the arrival of the New Year. Meticulously arranged, the enclosed food is meant to entertain your eyes as well as stimulate your appetite. 

Here's one we didn't prepare earlier. How Groupon's osechi was supposed to look.

Yearly challenge

Long cherished in Japan, osechi sometimes turns into a horrifying annual ritual for Japanese housewives. After meticulous effort, the box of delights is placed on the dining table for their husbands, kids or mothers-in-law to scrutinize. 

So imagine the relief of some when they found a special osechi plan provided by GROUPON, an online food-shopping site, at the end of last year.

Osechi by Bird Café, a Yokohama-based restaurant of Food Culture Research Institute, was available at a discounted ¥10,500 -- originally priced at ¥21,000.

With wonderful sample images of the special osechi set showcasing a spring lobster poking out and sweetened chestnuts sparkling, orders naturally rushed in, reaching the maximum sales of 500 sets almost immediately.

National disgust

However, complaints ran rampant across the nation on January 1, when some of the osechi made their late arrival -- having been promised to be delivered by December 31. Tardiness alone wouldn’t have been such a problem, but the real disaster was under the lid.

“I thought they put some garbage in it! There were only a handful of things, and they stank,” said one woman.

With no resemblance to the sample images, the food was carelessly scattered where they were supposed to be decorated and placed with delicate care. Pictures of the pieces of cheese in aluminum foil from a supermarket and unprocessed salty herring roes quickly made their way online.

Bird Café responded to the complaints with Kenji Mizuguchi, the president of the company, stepping down as of January 1, while GROUPON announced its intention to reimburse its customers for their expense and send them an extra gift as an apology. 

Lazy housewives

So how did the Japanese people respond to the news? Besides the obvious ridiculing of Bird Café for letting the nonsense slide nationwide, some have a different take -- Japanese housewives shouldn’t have resorted to the convenience of a click of the mouse in the first place.

Responses from local blogs include:

“How can you say you’re a Japanese [housewife] and then order osechi online? It’s definitely a punishment for them!”

 “So the manufacturer was named “Bird Café,” huh? I guess the food were supposed to feed a crow?”

“Buying osechi? Hello!?! Watch my mom and our maid, they cook osechi all by themselves every year.”

“You’re partly at fault for getting what you’re not supposed to get. But be grateful, because at least you know who to sue on this occasion!”

A parody video of the incident, featuring subtitles of the story over the video of Adolf Hitler in the film Downfall has also appeared.