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many different directions. The 1960s was the period when the mass urban
culture of the pre-war era, amalgamated with the experiences of military
catering, wartime food shortages and school lunches, turned into a national
standard. This was also the time when the pre-war ideal of home cooking
was being put into practice in a growing number of Japanese households.
The circumstances of economic growth extended pre-war trends to
encompass the entire society, whereas before they had been characteristic
of a middle-class urban lifestyle. The 1970s and ’80s brought new trends,
such as electrical household appliances, industrially prepared foods and the
phenomenal growth of the dining-out market. In tandem with these developments,
growing public concern about food safety and environmental
damage generated the rise of organic farming. Concurrent with the embrace
of foreign culinary trends, a nostalgic longing for an allegedly more
‘authentic’ rural life and local produce emerged. Different circuits of
Japanese affluence coexist, providing evidence of the extreme complexity
and dynamism of the Japanese culinary scene today.
It seems that despite all the changes, food managed to retain its spiritual
and religious connotations in Japan, largely due to the prominent role
it plays in Shinto and Buddhist rituals. 48 As in other societies, the connection
between food and religion remains particularly pronounced on festive
occasions, such as the New Year’s celebration when a pyramid of pounded
rice cakes (kagamimochi) is displayed in almost every household, or during
the obon (autumn equinox) festival when ancestors are worshipped with
offers of fruit, vegetables and sake, in addition to the food they favoured
when they were alive. Gravestones covered with tangerines and small sake
containers are familiar scenes in cemeteries throughout Japan. Food and
drink remains, meaningful in daily ritual as well; many householders still
A Shinto ‘groundbreaking’
ceremony
held before a new
house is built.
Food offerings
include fruit,
vegetables, sake
and mochi, 2003.
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