Japanese Chinese cuisine is known in Japanese as what romanized term?

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Japanese Chinese cuisine is known in Japanese as chūka ryōri.

The term chūka ryōri literally refers to Chinese-style cuisine as prepared in Japan. It describes a distinct culinary tradition rather than a simple copy of food served in China: Japanese cooks and restaurants adapted Chinese dishes to local ingredients, tastes and dining customs.

Modern chūka ryōri emerged mainly from the late nineteenth century onward. Its development was influenced by Chinese immigrants as well as Japanese colonists and repatriates returning from China after the Second Sino-Japanese War. Common examples include ramen, gyōza and chukaman, or Chinese-style steamed buns.

The term is easy to confuse with washoku, traditional Japanese cuisine, or yōshoku, Western-influenced Japanese food. Kaiseki is a separate Japanese multi-course dining tradition. Chūka ryōri restaurants may serve dishes with roots in Cantonese, Sichuan, Fujian and Northeast Chinese cuisines, but the resulting food is treated as a Japanese culinary category.

Source: Wikipedia · fact-checked Sept. 2026

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