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conscription made modern nation states dependent on the bodies of their
populations as never before. The interest of capitalist governments in
dietary matters steadily increased when a direct link between the health of
these bodies – and thus the productivity of workers and the strength of the
soldiers – and daily nutrition became apparent. In other words, dissemination
of nutritional knowledge among the populations was proved essential
for the progress of modern capitalist states.
Two factors inspired the governments of European countries to take
concrete actions in order to develop sound policies related to public nutrition.
First, the rise of Newer Knowledge of Nutrition during the early
twentieth century underscored the fact that an adequate diet comprised
substances other than proteins, carbohydrates and fats – substances that
later came to be referred to as ‘vitamins’ – and emphasized the potential of
proper nutrition as the preventive measure for the health improvement. 13
Second, World War One, and particularly the German case, disclosed the
far-reaching consequences of the inadequate handling of food shortages
by the authorities. 14 Both factors heavily influenced state polices in Japan.
Nutritional knowledge began to be transmitted in Japan from the
late 1850s by the Dutch physicians in the employ of the Tokugawa government,
such as J.L.C. Pompe van Meerdervoort (1829–1908), A. F. Bauduin
(1822–1885) and K. W. Gratama (1831–1888). In the 1870s, when the
Germans began to take over the leadership in disseminating Western
medicine in Japan, the emphasis on nutritional science was further strengthened,
since German scientists headed the new field. 15 The Hygiene
Experiment Stations, set up in the 1870s by the Home Ministry, marked the
first steps in creating an institutional basis for the dissemination of nutritional
knowledge in Japan. 16 Their establishment was in line with the policy
of ‘civilization and enlightenment’ that aimed at furthering the country’s
progress through the appropriation of Western science and technology.
In 1887 Tawara Yoshizumi (1855–1935), who was an employee of the
Hygiene Experiment Station in Tokyo, compiled the very first nutritional
table of Japanese foods. 17 Before the 1920s, however, military rather than
civilian institutions played a leading role in matters related to nutritional
science in Japan. As we have observed in chapter Three, the Imperial
Japanese Army and Navy were deeply concerned with dietary issues,
because they were directly confronted with the consequences of malnutrition.
The army was the locus of the first nutritional survey, which was
carried out in 1881 and coordinated by the chief of the Medical Headquarters
of the Army, Koike Masanao (1854–1913). 18 Along with Takagi
Kanehiro and Mori Rintarō mentioned earlier, Koike was one of many
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