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A simmered course (nimono) from a kaiseki menu, from Yamazato: Kaiseki Cuisine.
Hotel Okura, Amsterdam (2003).
enizing component in the process of the making of Japanese national
cuisine, and televised media played, and still continues to play, a critical
role in its dissemination among the Japanese population.
Since the 1960s the proliferation of electric appliances, such as washing
machines and rice cookers, along with the rapid growth of the food
processing industry, greatly diminished the load of housework, allowing
women to devote more time to cooking (see chapter Seven). On the other
hand, through the medium of television, members of the general public
who rarely had the opportunity to sample exclusive cuisine were familiarized
with kaiseki and its aesthetics. Professional chefs eagerly appeared
on television cooking shows, encouraging Japanese women to mimic their
skills. Before the late 1980s, when simple dishes that could be prepared
quickly with little effort began to gain ground, complicated and labourintensive
recipes prevailed on most cooking shows. Two major messages
were conveyed by television and the other media in relation to cooking.
First, cooking was projected as a way of showing every woman’s affection
for her family. In other words, since electric appliances and products of
the food industry made meal preparation easier, women were prompted to
raise the level of their cooking, including the aesthetic aspects. The second
message pleaded with Japanese housewives to protect the ‘tradition’ of
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