Ruth Reichl has a very interesting interpretation of umami.

Which is to say : that's not what the word means at all, in any way, whatsoever.

Umami is actually the taste of glutamates and nucleotides and is the fifth basic taste (it's savory.) It's not particularly Japanese it just that the chemical reason behind it was first described by a Japanese scientist. He named it by combining the words for delicious and taste.

It's the taste found in meat, vegetables, fish, cheese, and broth.