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Five
Wartime Mobilization and
Food Rationing
The fifteen-year period between the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War in
1937, which marked the beginning of World War Two in the Far East, and
the end of the occupation of Japan by the Allied Forces in 1952 constituted
a very important stage in the construction of Japanese national cuisine.
The wartime mobilization of people and resources, which was successively
tightened as the war progressed, had an unprecedented homogenizing impact
on Japanese cuisine. World War Two was perhaps the most powerful
democratizing force in the history of Japanese diet. The divide that had for
centuries separated the rural and urban diet rapidly declined – urban citizens
were forced to rely increasingly on staples other than rice, which had thus
far dominated peasants’ fare. As I explained earlier, although rice was a preferred
staple, there had not been enough of it to feed the entire population.
Therefore, the most underprivileged sections of the Japanese society, such
as the majority of peasants and the urban poor, were sustained by other
staples, or at best on a mixture of rice with vegetables and other grains (see
also chapter Three). Since the fixed components of the urban landscape,
such as public transport, cinemas, department stores and restaurants one by
one disappeared under the pressure of mobilization for total war, urban life
increasingly came to resemble rural existence.
Preparing for Total War
‘Total war’ means total mobilization. It requires the commitment of massive
armed forces to battle and strong industrial economies to sustain
them. 1 In waging total war, supporting the war machine is as essential in
the pursuit of victory as sheer military might. In these circumstances, the
management of food resources assumes unique strategic significance, since
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