Every country and every nation has its own characteristic culture, and the flower of civilization blooms in every corner of the world to form our colorful world. Food culture is an important part of national culture, although Japan is only an island country, but the food is very distinctive, deeply loved by the people of all countries.
Japan's food culture was also formed after a long period of development, in the Meiji period in Japan, the Meiji Emperor, who was only 20 years old at the time, made a decision, not only to improve the physical fitness of the people, but also to form a huge impact on Japan's food culture, and slowly formed a unique Japanese "Japanese food" culture.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="3" > The evolution of Japanese food culture</h1>
As the saying goes, "the people take food as the sky", although Japan's land area is not large, but it is a big food country, in May 2013, Japan's "Washi food" has been included in the world intangible cultural heritage list. When we think of "Japanese food", we can think of sushi, ramen, wagyu beef and other foods, which are considered to be traditional foods in Japanese food culture, but we do not know that these foods with Japanese national characteristics were formed by the absorption of Eastern and Western cultures in Japan during the Meiji period.
Japan's food culture dates back more than 2,000 years, during the Japanese Jomon period, when people could only rely on picking wild fruits and fishing by water. After obtaining food, they would roast it on the fire until the rice cultivation method spread to Japan, which established the habit of eating rice as a staple food, and in the upper class, people had learned to cook and drink hot soup. Japanese food culture is heavily influenced by Chinese culture, especially the spread of Buddhism.
After Buddhism was introduced to Japan, it was highly sought after by the Japanese people, and also laid the foundation for a vegetarian food culture, and in Japanese society at that time, simple vegetarian food was the real high class. Before the Meiji period, Japan's food culture was relatively simple, and due to religious influences and government regulations, it was basically vegetarian and strictly restricted meat. Because of the long-term lack of meat protein intake, the physical fitness of Japanese citizens at that time was generally low. It was not until the Meiji Restoration that eating habits changed.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="7" > Second, dietary changes during the Meiji Restoration</h1>
In the last shogunate era, Japan adopted a policy of seclusion, but before the opposition of domestic capital and peasant class, the foundation of shogunate rule was shaken, and then the Black Ship Fleet of the United States forcibly opened the door of Japan. In the face of both internal and external dangers, Japan began a capitalist revolution from top to bottom. During the Meiji Restoration, Western culture gradually penetrated into the Japanese upper class, which had a huge impact on Japanese food culture.
After the establishment of the Meiji government, he sent ministers to visit Europe and the United States and put forward the slogan of "civilized civilization, colonization and prosperity, and great education." At that time, there was a famous educator Fukuzawa Yukichi, who advocated an important change that led to a different path in Japanese food culture. It turned out that Fukuzawa Yukichi traveled to Europe and the United States, and in addition to the ideological study of education, he also had a different view on living habits.
At that time, the physical fitness of the Japanese people was generally low, while the European and American people were individually tall, and after several years of observation, he found that this had a lot to do with the diet of European and American people. So he returned to Japan and advocated eating meat, and he also wrote a "Theory of Meat Eating" advocating the benefits of eating meat, writing out what he saw and heard in Europe, and what changes he had made in his body after changing his diet, and put forward the idea that meat can strengthen the body. In his article, he questions the traditional Japanese notion that banning killing is unscientific, and if only eating fish is allowed, what is the difference between killing a whale and killing other animals?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="11" > third, the emperor's decision</h1>
Shortly after Fukuzawa's article was published, the then young Emperor Meiji fell into deep thought. At present, the people's physique in Japanese society is indeed defective, and short stature and thinness are the general images of the Japanese people, and social reform should not only be reformed in culture, economy, and education, but also the people's livelihood is also an important thing.
As a result, at the age of 20, Emperor Meiji began to eat a series of meats such as beef on the dinner table, which was unprecedented for Japanese society at that time. The young Meiji Emperor took action to tell the people that the behavior of eating meat was not inferior and shameful, and that eating meat could indeed strengthen the body. After a brief period of shock, Japanese society began to imitate meat eating, and slowly eating meat became a common practice in high society.
Since then, meat, eggs and milk have been a common food in the homes of japanese people. Soon, in the decades of meat-eating, Japan's food trend changed from light and simple to diverse and exquisite. The physical fitness of the Japanese people has also gradually improved, and the data statistics show that the height of the Japanese census in the early Meiji period was generally around one meter and five meters, and by a few decades later, the average height of the people in the second census has been one meter and seven.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="15" > Conclusion:</h1>
Emperor Meiji took the lead in eating beef, which led the Japanese people to the road of physical strength, but the nature of Japanese militarism led them to the path of aggression. Japan's "Japanese food" is rich in categories, thanks to the absorption of other countries' food culture during World War II, ramen, omelette rice, etc. are all improved dishes created by Japan, after continuous exploration and change, "Washi" has occupied a place in the world's food culture.