My hometown is Sichuan, the well-known birthplace of Sichuan cuisine and the home to the protagonist of the famous manga Chuuka Ichiban!. It is also the home of the giant pandas. As a commonality between Sichuan and Japan, the first thing I would like to point out is that both Sichuanese and Japanese people love pandas.
When a relative from my hometown in Sichuan asked me over the phone, "What is good about Japan?" I answered, "The streets are clean, there is a lot of greenery, the environment is good, and it's comfortable." Also, when asked, "Do you ever have trouble with food in Japan?" I answered, "No, I like non-spicy food, so I have no trouble at all." Several people then asked me, "Wait, are you really from Sichuan?" Being told that left me troubled. Sichuan food is indeed characterized by its spiciness, but I really dislike very spicy foods and prefer light flavors, so Japanese food suits my tastes very well. Does that mean I am not a Sichuanese person?
So, I started looking into history and found out that the reason Sichuan food is spicy is not just because of the humidity of the Sichuan basin, but is also closely related to Sichuan's modern history.
Chili peppers originated in Central and South America and were introduced to Sichuan about 300 years ago, while they were introduced to Japan through the Nanban trade 400 years ago. So Japan got them earlier than Sichuan. It seems the character '唐' (Tang) in '唐辛子' (togarashi - chili pepper) was simply used to mean "from a foreign land." Until 100 years ago, mild-flavored dishes were mainstream in Sichuan cuisine. Just like in Japan, there was a variety of flavors, and spiciness was merely one of them, far from dominating Sichuan cuisine the way it does now. For example, the Sichuan dish Pork Qingjiao Rousi (green pepper steak) is not spicy, and Mapo Tofu focuses more on the numbing sensation of Sichuan peppercorns than on spiciness. So, why did the situation regarding chili peppers turn out differently in Sichuan and Japan?
For a long time after chili peppers were introduced to Sichuan, poor people ate them as a side dish to go with rice. On the other hand, ordinary people relatively rarely ate chili peppers. For example, a dish called Dongpo Pork is very mildly flavored. It is a Sichuan dish from about a thousand years ago, made with ingredients like pork belly, soy sauce, and rock sugar. It highlights sweetness, not spiciness. However, due to changes in the political situation later on, a social revolution took place in Sichuan. Many people were stripped of their private property, the number of people eating meat across Sichuan decreased, and almost everyone was forced to eat chili peppers. In short, chili peppers went from being a non-mainstream ingredient to a mainstream one simply because the Sichuanese people fell into poverty.
Because Sichuan's history was interrupted by external forces, such a drastic change in dietary habits occurred. On the other hand, in Japan, the development of dietary lifestyle and society has been natural, the ownership of property is also free, and there is a sense of security.
Su Dongpo, the inventor of Dongpo Pork and the greatest literary figure in Sichuan history, left behind the famous quote: "The place where my heart can be at peace is my hometown." In other words, as long as one can find peace of mind, perhaps it doesn't matter whether the food is spicy or not, whether one is Sichuanese or not, or where one's hometown is. And one more thing: I believe that the Sichuan cuisine found in Japan is what original Sichuan cuisine was meant to be.
Thank you very much for listening.