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‘Defence food’ container, c. 1942–7.
flour, eggs, fish and vegetable oil. 35 The Food Management Law of February
1942 introduced a uniform, nationwide system of staple food rationing,
replacing a variety of measures instituted thus far by the authorities of
each prefecture. The daily ration of 2.3 gō (approximately 322 grams) of
partly polished rice was determined as the national standard; Rice
Polishing Restriction Regulation of December 1939 had already prohibited
the sale of white rice. Since provisioning of the rapidly increasing manpower
of troops was considered a priority, however, less and less rice was
left for the home front. Between 1940 and 1945 the amount of rice supplied
to the armed forces rose from 161,000 to 744,000 tonnes, making it impossible
to retain the rationing standards for civilians. 36 Consequently, the
government was compelled to adulterate rationed rice with wheat, barley
and soybeans, and from 1943 substitute 10–30 per cent of the rice ration by
other grains or sweet and white potatoes. Moreover, the actually distributed
quota was usually much lower than the quantity that people were
entitled to buy according to their purchase permits. 37 All this meant a
steady reduction of available food, so that tubers and vegetables grown
in school yards, river banks and parks became critical sources of food in
urban areas. In the countryside, supplementing the official food supply was
easier, since mudfish and eels could be fished for in irrigation channels,
birds caught in especially erected nets, crickets collected in the rice-fields
and mushrooms and tubers in the woods. 38
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