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menus – were propagated as an example to follow by civilian canteens at
schools, factories and hospitals. Although officially Ryōyūkai was not
part of the military structure, its ties with the armed forces remained very
strong. It was established in 1925 by the staff members of the Central
Provisions Depot in Tokyo under the leadership of the First Army
Accountant Marumoto Shōzō (1886–1961), who was later promoted to
Major-General. Various projects carried out by Ryōyūkai over the years
were coordinated by the staff of the depot and financed largely by the food
industry. As I explained in chapter Three, orders for the army and navy
had been essential for the growth of the Japanese food industry. Before
Japanese canned products were able to enter the global market in the 1910s,
the industry was entirely dependent on the orders for the (first) Sino-
Japanese War (1894–5) and the Russo-Japanese War (1904–5). During the
1920s and ’30s the use of canned food among the civilian population in
Japan gradually increased, sustained by the ‘militarization of nutrition’.
This is perhaps the most appropriate label to describe an array of measures
that resulted in the proliferation of the military model of efficient nourishment
among the civilian population, under Ryōyūkai’s leadership.
A variety of activities coordinated by Ryōyūkai aimed chiefly at persuading
the general public to mimic the military mass catering. For example,
most schools that set up canteens after 1932, propelled by the financial
support of the Ministry of Education, followed the example of the military
– tried and tested menus, aluminium tableware and industrially processed
provisions were widely used throughout the country. 28 Along with educational
courses for civilian caterers, Ryōyūkai provided practical advice on
a regular basis through its monthly magazine Ryōyū (‘Provisions’ Companion’).
From nutritional information and model menus to newly available
equipment and means of economizing on fuel, for nearly twenty years
Ryōyū disseminated the military experiences in efficient mass nourishment
among civilian caterers. The wartime mobilization for total war greatly
accelerated the militarization of nutrition, since the efficiency-driven military
models were extended to encompass the entire society.
It was in the industry’s vital interest to finance Ryōyūkai’s activities.
By popularizing military catering among civilians, food processing enterprises
were able to enlarge the civilian market for their products. The
advertising campaign for ship’s biscuits (kanpan), launched in 1937, is a
case in point. It illustrates the increasingly intricate connections between
the military, the food industry and public nutrition in wartime Japan. The
preparation for the campaign of 1937 began ten years earlier, when 33
Japanese producers of ship’s biscuits formed a cartel. The Industrial Guild
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