[Sca-cooks] Japanese breakfast

[Sandra Kisner]

>Here's a note on a Japanese breakfast from Saveur with a photo gallery
>It was in a post about breakfasts for Mother's Day.
>
>http://www.saveur.com/article/Our%20Favorite%20Foods/Notes-on-My-Mothers-Breakfast
>
>Johnnae

This was the part that caught my eye:

>Western foods made inroads into the Japanese diet during the 16th century, 
>when Portuguese traders introduced eggs. (Until then, chickens had been 
>considered sacred, so neither they nor their eggs were eaten.) By the end 
>of the 19th century, people all over Japan had begun embracing even more 
>Western foods, like beef (which had also been banned for the previous 
>1,200 years)...

I'd never heard either of these before.  Has anybody else?  Any idea how 
true these assertions are?

Sandra