History of Japanese cuisine facts for kids
This article explores the history of Japanese food. We can learn about what early Japanese people ate by studying old remains. These studies show that rice and seafood have been very important foods in Japan for a long time.
During the Kofun period (3rd to 7th centuries), we don't have many clear records. But some of Japan's first written stories give us clues about food habits when the Yamato dynasty was forming. When Buddhism became popular, people started to avoid eating meat, especially from mammals. This became a common practice. However, people in the mountains still hunted wild animals, and sometimes townspeople would eat them too.
Records from the Heian period (794 to 1185), like writings about ceremonies and taxes, help us list the ingredients used and basic cooking methods. But finding actual recipes from the Middle Ages in Japan is very rare.
Later records from the Middle Ages might give us an idea of the dishes people enjoyed. But they don't usually give enough details to recreate the exact recipes.
When Japan entered the Edo period, many common people could read and write. They produced lots of books with woodblock prints. These books give us rich details about the foods and cooking of everyday people.
Contents
The Heian Period (794 to 1185)
After the Jōmon period (14,000–300 BCE), Japanese society changed a lot. People stopped being mostly hunter-gatherers and started to become farmers. This was when rice farming began in Japan. It was brought over from China around 300 BCE.
People usually boiled rice plain. They called it gohan or meshi. Since cooked rice became the main part of a meal, these words also mean "meal." Farmers often mixed millet with rice, especially in mountain areas where rice didn't grow well.
During the Kofun period (300 to 538 AD), Chinese culture came to Japan through Korea. This is how Buddhism started to influence Japanese culture. After the 6th century, Japan directly copied many things from China's Tang dynasty (618 to 907). This influence led to rules against eating meat in Japan.
In 675 AD, Emperor Tenmu made a law. It banned eating cattle, horses, dogs, monkeys, and chickens during certain months of the year. Breaking this law could even lead to a death sentence. Monkeys were sometimes eaten before this time, but mostly for medicine. Chickens were often kept as pets. Cows and horses were rare and valued. Emperor Tenmu's law did not ban eating deer or wild boar. These animals were important parts of the Japanese diet back then.
The Heian Period (794 to 1185) saw more laws from emperors and empresses. These laws banned killing any animals. In 752 AD, Empress Kōken even banned fishing. But she promised to give enough rice to fishermen so they wouldn't lose their jobs. By 927 AD, new rules said that any government official or noble who ate meat was considered "unclean" for three days. They could not take part in Shinto ceremonies at the imperial court.
Chinese culture also brought chopsticks to Japan early in this period. At first, only nobles used chopsticks at fancy banquets. People didn't use them every day; they still ate with their hands. Metal spoons were also used in the 8th and 9th centuries, but again, only by nobles.
Dining tables also came to Japan around this time. Common people used a low table called an oshiki. Nobles used a fancy lacquered table with legs called a zen. Each person had their own table. For grand banquets, nobles might have several tables for each person, depending on how many dishes were served.
After the Tang dynasty declined in the 9th century, Japan started to develop its own unique culture and food. One big change was that people stopped using spoons for eating. Common people also started using chopsticks. Trade with China and Korea continued, but large-scale outside influence didn't happen again until the 19th century.
The 10th and 11th centuries showed how refined cooking and manners became among the Heian nobles. Court chefs would prepare many vegetables sent as taxes from the countryside. Court banquets were common and very grand. Nobles wore Chinese-style clothes for these events, which made them look different from common people's simple clothes.
Dishes eaten after the 9th century included grilled fish and meat (yakimono). There were also simmered foods (nimono) and steamed foods (mushimono). Soups were made from chopped vegetables, fish, or meat (atsumono). People ate jellied fish (nikogori) cooked with seasonings. Sliced raw fish was served in a vinegar sauce (namasu). Vegetables, seaweed, or fish were served in a strong dressing (aemono). And there were pickled vegetables (tsukemono) cured in salt. People almost never used oil or fat in cooking. Sesame oil was used very rarely because it was expensive to make.
Documents from Heian nobles show that fish and wild birds were common foods, along with vegetables. Their banquet settings included a bowl of rice and soup. They also had chopsticks, a spoon, and three seasonings: salt, vinegar, and hishio. Hishio was a fermented mix of soybeans, wheat, sake, and salt. A fourth plate was there for mixing these seasonings to dip food in.
The four types of food at a banquet were dried foods (himono), fresh foods (namamono), fermented or dressed food (kubotsuki), and desserts (kashi). Dried fish and birds were sliced thin, like salted salmon or dried abalone. Fresh fish, shellfish, and birds were sliced raw in vinegar sauce or grilled, such as carp or sea bream. Kubotsuki included small balls of fermented sea squirt, fish, or giblets, along with jellyfish and aemono. Desserts included Chinese cakes and many fruits and nuts. These included pine nuts, dried chestnuts, acorns, jujube, pomegranate, peach, apricot, persimmon, and citrus. The meal would end with sake.
The Kamakura Period (1192-1333)
The Kamakura period brought big political changes to Japan. Before this time, the samurai were guards for the nobles' lands. But the nobles lost control of the countryside. The samurai, who came from the peasant class, took over with military rule. A military government was set up in 1192 in Kamakura.
Once the samurai were in power, the role of court banquets changed. Before, court food focused on taste and nutrition. Now, it became more about ceremony and official duties.
Minamoto no Yoritomo, the first shōgun, did not like other samurai who still held showy banquets like the nobles. The shōgun's banquet, called ōban, was for military leaders from different areas. The ōban was originally a lunch for soldiers on festival days during the Heian period. It became linked to the warrior class. The menu usually had dried abalone, jellyfish aemono, pickled ume called umeboshi, salt, vinegar, and rice. Later in the period, the honzen-ryōri banquet became popular.
The samurai's food came from their simple peasant backgrounds. Their meals were simple but filling. Their cooking avoided fancy styles, ceremonies, and luxury. It also stopped being influenced by Chinese food. For example, they stopped wearing traditional Chinese clothes. Instead, they wore a distinct style that combined simple common people's clothing. This style later became the kimono by the end of the Middle Ages.
The Buddhist idea of not eating meat became stronger during the Kamakura period. It started to spread to the peasants. People who worked in slaughtering animals for food or leather faced discrimination. Their work was seen as going against the Buddhist idea of not taking life. Also, under Shinto beliefs, they were considered "unclean." This discrimination grew and eventually led to a separate group of people called the burakumin.
Later Periods: Edo and Meiji
For a long time, Japanese people generally avoided eating meat. This was due to the influence of Buddhism, which teaches not to take life. For example, a Portuguese missionary named João Rodrigues noted that Japanese people did not eat lard, chickens, ducks, pigs, cows, or horses. They only sometimes hunted wild animals for special feasts. This was different from Chinese people, who ate many kinds of meat.
Another missionary, Luís Fróis, wrote in 1585 about the differences between European and Japanese cultures. He said that Europeans enjoyed hens and pies, but Japanese preferred wild dogs, cranes, large monkeys, cats, and uncooked seaweed. He also noted that Europeans ate beef, while Japanese did not, and that Japanese sometimes ate dog meat as medicine. Japanese people also ate raw, sliced boar meat, unlike Europeans who cooked it in stew.
Animal milk, like cow's milk, was also disliked by many Japanese people in the 19th century. Beef was not eaten as regular food in Japan until the Meiji Restoration. Meat eating was seen as a Western practice that many Japanese did not like. Both Shintoism and Buddhism helped create the mostly vegetarian diet of medieval Japanese people.
Japan did not have much land for raising livestock. Because of this, eating meat was banned several times by Japan's rulers. The ban in 675 AD was one example. Other bans were put in place over the centuries. Japan mostly got meat from hunting wild animals. But as the population grew, farmers cut down forests for farms, which meant fewer wild animals like boar and deer.
In the 18th century, Japan started to notice that Europeans, like the Dutch, were taller than them. This made some people think about diet. Then, on January 24, 1872, the Meiji emperor publicly ate meat. This was a very important moment. After this, Japan began to adopt meat-based diets from Europeans. For example, beef consumption in Tokyo increased greatly in just five years.
Japan was modernizing and wanted to strengthen its army. After World War II, when America occupied Japan, Japanese people saw American soldiers eating foods like bacon, steaks, and hamburgers. This further influenced dietary changes. It is important to note that before the 19th century, beef was sometimes eaten as medicine in both China and Japan, as a special exception to the general ban. The main ban on meat eating began around the 10th century AD.
Images for kids
-
Chopsticks on a chopstick rest
-
A fruit market stand in Meiji-era Japan
