On Monday, February 25, 2019 at 9:21:23 AM UTC-10, Bruce wrote:
> On Mon, 25 Feb 2019 11:19:10 -0800 (PST), dsi1
> > wrote:
>
> >On Sunday, February 24, 2019 at 11:30:54 PM UTC-10, Ophelia wrote:
> >>
> >> What is it they are saying as they take their first bite?
> >
> >"Itadakimasu" is customary to say before eating in Japan. I think it means "let's eat." You can say it casually like those guy do or formally. I like the practice because it shows respect for the food.
>
> "Let's eat" shows respect for the food. Hawaiian logic.

Literally, it does mean "lets eat." Obviously, there's something more going on than that. My guess is that this reverence for food stems from their Shintoists beliefs that objects in nature have a spirit. The Hawaiians believed that too. As we all know, you gotta respect nature.