I recently knew that 22th Feb. had been approved as the Oden day by Japan Memorial Day Association. When the Oden sales by convenience stores started, there was a criticism that such an excessive service was deviated from traditional way of commerce. I also felt the strangeness when I heard it and thought that such sales style wouldn't last long. But after many years have passed, I understand that the service completely fits in the modern store-commerce style. The reason of its success can be explained by the concept of the 'ADAPTABILITY of a dish'. Highly adaptable dish has a power to fit in any style of stores and potentials to keep the sales even under completely different cultures. Perhaps, Oden has the same level of adaptability as fried chicken or fried potato that also seem to be very popular in convenience stores. I once bought both Oden and fried potato at the same time on the occasion of visiting convenience store. The birth of such peculiar combination of two different food cultures may not be a coincidence. That’s the encounter of two food menus of ‘high adaptability’. The future of Oden in the world would be beyond our imagination.
