Download - Brainshare Public Online Library

made public on a daily basis by the Imperial Government Institute for
Nutrition. Easy-to-follow instructions and recipes were propagated via
cooking demonstrations, exhibitions and lectures. In 1924 Saiki himself
held the very first radio lecture on the issue of nutrition, and in the year
1933 alone the institute carried out nearly 300 lecturing tours throughout
the country. 23 The popularization of the ideal of professional housewife,
who was to ensure the health of her family while watching over the household
finances, provided a fertile ground for the activities coordinated by
Saiki and other professionals involved in the propagation of nutritional
knowledge. From the 1920s nutritional advice came to be featured regularly
in home economics textbooks, cookery books and women’s magazines. A
decade later, the emphasis on nourishment became increasingly dominant
in the printed media, including publications targeted at rural households.
The commitment of the Japanese state towards improving dietary conditions
was largely responsible for this trend. In 1929, in an official notification to
the local administrative organs throughout the country, the Home Ministry
underscored the importance of nutritional reforms in bolstering the physical
condition of the population. 24 Three years later a directive of the
Ministry of Education provided primary schools with financial support for
their canteens. By 1940 more than 12,000 schools throughout the country
were serving food to their pupils. 25
The Militarization of Nutrition
The establishment of the Public Welfare Ministry, a year after the outbreak
of the Sino-Japanese War, accelerated the growing involvement of
the state in public nutrition. For example, between 1939 and 1944 ten new
institutions training dieticians were established, while only one such institution
– set up privately by Saiki in 1925 – had been in operation thus far. 26
A major difference between dieticians educated by Saiki and those who
graduated from the new schools was the fact that the latter were inculcated
with knowledge and skills much more attuned to the practical application
on a daily basis in the wartime circumstances of growing food
shortages. Moreover, the new schools operated on a far larger scale. For
example, the School of Provisions managed by Ryōyūkai, a foundation
with strong military ties, had a potential of educating up to 500 students
per year. In 1941 the school offered two one-year daytime courses, one in
dietetics and one in canning, a six-months daytime course in bread-making
and a six-months evening training in nutrition for professional cooks. 27
122