Survey of last 150 years of Japanese food history, focusing on the stability of the Meiji era, the increasing diversity of the Taisho, the effect of military adventures and the globalization of sushi and Fortune cookies.

1. Modern Japanese Food History
Globalization

2. Selected Topics
• Slow Change in Modern Japan
– Creating a National Cuisine
– Imports
• Globalizing Japanese Food
– Fortune Cookies
– Sushi

3. Creating A National Cuisine

4. Prosperity and Culture
• "Dishes that we think of as traditional Japanese
cuisine, such as tempura, soba, sushi, and unagi no
kabayaki (eel broiled with a soy sauce seasoning) all
date from the Tokugawa period but were eaten around
the entire country after the Restoration." (Hansen,
161)
• "There is no real evidence in the Meiji period of any
transition to a diet that included new types of
Western-influenced foods." (Hansen 163)

5. Noodle Shop

6. Rise of Beriberi (Thiamin Deficiency)
"People consumed
increasing amounts
of
tea, fruit, sugar, and
soy sauce, and more
people dined out.
The demand for
seasoning rose as
people at more white
rice.... with increased
use of polished
rice, the demand for
soy sauce rose."

7. Ichiju Issai
• "The pattern for ordinary meals was ... ichiju issai:
'one soup and one vegetable.' ... rice, miso soup, and
pickles, but sometimes other simple dishes would be
added. ... only during the Meiji period that most
Japanese, including farmers, commonly ate this type
of meal with all of the elements served separately
and not as a form of stew or gruel." (Hansen, 163)

8. Bento Box Style

9. Yamaguchi:
Okonomiyaki Shop Piero

10. Okonomiyaki: Grilled As You Like It

11. Okonomiyaki in Hawai'i

12. Noodle Delivery Bike

13. Importing Foods
Waves of Change

14. Military Food
"Biscuits were introduced during the Sino-Japanese War
and, after the Russo-Japanese War, were produced in
large quantity. The army also introduced beef, calling it
yamato-ni (Japanese stew) to overcome the
negativeassociations red meat would have for soldiers
from the country. Beer, first brought in from England in
1868, was produced in Japan within a decade and
consumed by bureaucrats and the military alike. After
serving in the army, country boys returned home with a
taste for new foods and cooking methods." (Hansen
165)

15. Taisho Era (1912-1926)
• Curry Rice
• Meat, milk, bread
• Bulldog Sauce
• tonkatsu (pork cutlets)
• More foreign restaurants (esp. Chinatown)

16. Post-WWII
• Hamburgers
• Milk
• Chocolate
• Whale
• School Lunches
• Wine, Scotch

17. Foreign Ambiance

18. Coffee Shop
Plastic Food

19. Beer

20. Beer and Sake

22. "French Dog (Jumbo)"

23. "Furankufuruto"

24. "Smile: 0¥"

25. The Fortune Cookie Controversy
• Fortune cookies become popular along with Chinese
restaurants: WWII military travel through SF and
LA, Honolulu, spreads Chinese food.
• Japanese expulsion from west coast in WWII means
that only some speciality shops survived, including
bakeries, but Japanese food didn't spread.
• No real Chinese equivalents
• Japanese fortune-telling and cookie-baking traditions

26. Philadelphia Chinatown Arch

27. Bean Paste Pastries, Kyoto Style

28. Temple Fortunes

31. My Favorite Fortune Ever

32. Global Sushi
• Vinegar and sugar rice with fish becomes popular in
Japanese cities in late 1600s
• Japanese restaurants in the US West, but not
popular
• 1970s, with rise of Japanese economy and health
food fads, sees West coast sushi become popular
• Spreads to other major cities in 1980s.
• New Global Ingredients: mayonaise, avocado, cream
cheese, spicy sauces

34. Sushi Chef, Nagoya, 1985

35. Atom Boy Revolving Family Sushi

36. Sushi Lunch, Hilo (KTA Supermarket)

37. Kansas City Hen House Sushi

38. Sources
• Pictures by Jonathan Dresner
– http://flickr.com/photos/jondresner
• Jennifer 8. Lee, "Solving a Riddle Wrapped in a
Mystery Inside a Cookie," NYT, 16 January 2008
– http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/16/dining/16fort.html
• Crocheted Sushi by Karin McAdams
• Susan Hanley, Everyday Things in Premodern
Japan: The Hidden Legacy of Material
Culture, UCP, 1997