The word for "meal" in Japanese is gohan.  This word actually refers to steamed rice, but rice is such an important food to the Japanese that gohan has come to mean all sorts of meals.  Rice is a part of every meal and is served as an independent dish.  Sushi (different kinds of raw fish with rice) is one of the most popular rice dishes in  Japan and also enjoyed in countries around the world.

A lot of fish, pork, and vegetables are also eaten.  Fish is often eaten raw and must be very fresh.  Japanese people eat all types of seafood, including seaweed.  For hundreds of years, green tea has been a favorite drink.  Most Japanese still drink tea with every meal.  Chopsticks are used instead of knives and forks.

The Japanese word for hamburger is hanbagu.  It's a ground beef patty that is served on a plate, not in a bun.  It's more like meatloaf than the hamburger we get in the U. S. A.  Sometimes ground pork is used in addition to the beef. 

Here is a recipe for hanbagu:

400 grams	ground meat (beef or beef/pork mixture)
1/4	onion, minced
1 tablespoon	butter or vegetable oil
1 slice	white bread or 8-10 centimeter piece of French bread (remove crust, soak in water, squeeze thoroughly, and break apart--makes about 1/3 cup)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon	soy sauce (or a pinch of salt)
black pepper

Sauté minced onions in oil or butter until transparent. Set aside to cool.

Mix meat, soy sauce, and onions in a bowl. Add bread when the mixture becomes sticky, and stir some more. Add beaten egg and sprinkle pepper to taste.

Form into patties with both hands. The patties may be big enough for a single serving or made small so that there are two or three patties per serving. Cook in oil or butter in a frying pan. When using ground pork, keep the patties thin so that they can be cooked through fully.

Fry over a medium flame for 4 to 5 minutes, then flip over and cook for 3 to 4 more minutes, gently pressing on the patty with a spatula. (Cooking time varies according to the size and thickness of the patty.)

Insert a skewer into the meat. If the meat juice is clear, you're done!

Visit this great web site:

www.jinjapan.org/kidsweb/cook.html