Japanese food has a long history and many regional variations, so I can only give a very basic answer here. Generally, though, Japanese cooking places a lot of importance on freshness and health. Vegetables are very important, as is rice which is perhaps the most important staple food. Rice is used to make soups, noodles, alcoholic drinks and other foods as well as being served in its 'simple' form.

In much of Japan, meat has always been less important than fish and seafood, or vegetable dishes as mentioned above (including soya and soya prodcuts). However, this isn't true everywhere - the famous Wagyu beef is Japanese, for instance, and some places like Kumamoto have a long meat-eating tradition - and also, with outside influences many people in modern Japan eat more meat products than before.

Generally, Japanese food is delicious and good for you - why not try one of these simple recipes.