in the course of eating a meal. Think of it as a Japanese way of prayer.
By itself, "Itadakimasu!" is said to express appreciation for the meal prepared. But when directly translated, it is more like "Now I'm going to dig-in!" in English.
As for "Go-chiso-samadeshita!", spoken after the meal, it is said to express gratitude for the wonderful meal and for the hospitality of the person who prepared them.
[Question 2: While eating]
An orthodox example of a Japanese meal would consist of follows: a bowl of rice, miso-soup(suimono), and 2 or 3 side dishes (the more side dishes, grander the meal). When there 's several dishes in front of you, it does become rather confusing to figure out what to eat
first and so on. What is the proper order to eat these dishes?
The answer choices are...
1) Eat the side dishes until cleared, move on to rice, then drink the soup last.
2) Eat from the biggest plate to the smallest.
3) Sip a bit of soup as a starter, then keep on eating all dishes simultaneously.