Japanese say always ITADAKIMAS by starting to eat.
Literally translation of ITADAKIMAS is „I start eating“ or „I receive the meal“.
But real meaning is..:
I get your life but continue in my life.
Japanese say ITADAKIMAS to the meal.
Any meal we eat used to be living.
We do not eat stones or irons.
What we eat is/was everything creature.
We kill them to eat.
That is why Japanese say ITADAKIMASU = I take your life but continue in my life.
That is why we should eat everything on the dish and never leave something to through away.