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concern ‘to preserve draft animals in order to maintain and increase
agricultural production’. 34
All in all, by the late sixteenth century the eating of the meat of
domesticated animals acquired a status of a taboo in Japan. 35 This situation
is clearly reflected in the account of João Rodrigues (c. 1561–1633), a
Portuguese Jesuit missionary and pioneer scholar of the Japanese language
and culture, in his recollection of his lengthy residence in the country,
stretching from 1577 to 1610:
The more solemn the banquet among the Japanese, and also in
China, the greater number of different broths and shiru provided
for each guest. Each of these is made from different
things; some are made from high-quality fish, others from the
meat of birds which they prize, such as the crane, which ranks
in the first place, the swan in the second, and wild duck in the
third. This is still true even today, for on no account will they
use anything but wild game and never the domestic animals
and birds which they rear. They will not eat the latter and in
this they differ from the Chinese, who esteem the flesh of the
ass more than that of the horse, the latter more than the cow;
they have an even higher regard for pork, lard and bacon, as
well as domestic duck, hens and geese, while lowly persons eat
dogmeat and other things. In keeping with their customs the
Japanese abominate all this, for on no account whatsoever will
they eat ass, horse, cow, much less pig (except boars), duck, or
hens, and they are naturally averse to lard. They eat only wild
game at banquets and their ordinary meals, for they regard a
householder who slaughters an animal reared in his house as
cruel and unclean; on the other hand, they do not show this
compassion toward human beings because they kill them with
greater ease and enjoyment than they would an animal. This is
despite the fact that some people, especially the traders who
have had dealings with the Portuguese since their arrival in
Japan, now eat cow, pig and hens, but such things are not eaten
at solemn banquets or, for that matter, anywhere in the entire
kingdom. 36
Rodrigues’ testimony raises the point of slaughtering animals reared within
one ’s household. Some scholars argue that the spread of the meateating
taboo in Japan went hand in hand with the diffusion of the concept
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