バイキング

1958 August 1 is the key date for バイキング as a food word: Tokyo's Imperial Hotel opened the restaurant Imperial Viking after Tetsuzo Inumaru encountered Scandinavian smorgasbord in Copenhagen in 1957. The name comes through English Viking, from Old Norse vikingr, but the food model was Swedish smörgåsbord. The Imperial Hotel identifies Nobuo Murakami, later its 11th head chef, as central to the research. In Showa hotel and restaurant language, the restaurant name became a general term for self-service dining. Murakami researched smorgasbord while connected with Hotel Ritz Paris, and the Imperial Hotel used バイキング for its new buffet restaurant. The name was chosen in-house during the year when the film The Vikings was in public view in Japan. The word then spread beside スモーガスボード, ブフェ, ビュッフェ, 食べ放題, and later all-you-can-eat advertising. In 2008, the hotel set August 1 as バイキングの日. Modern Japanese バイキング means a buffet or all-you-can-eat meal, not a Scandinavian raider from the 8th to 10th centuries. English Viking normally refers to Norse people, teams, brands, or costumes; the meal is buffet or all-you-can-eat. In Japan, hotel breakfast, cake shops, and yakiniku restaurants can all use バイキング. Example: 朝食はホテルのバイキングだった.