Download - Brainshare Public Online Library

had increased ninefold in comparison to the Sino-Japanese War. This time,
following the successful incorporation of canned beef, the use of canned
seafood increased remarkably. 26 The share of imported cans became
negligible and ship’s biscuits used as field rations were also by then produced
domestically. 27
Mori Rintarō (1862–1922), military surgeon and an influential reformer
of military catering, warned of the dangers of Japanese armed
forces becoming too dependent on Western products. Since he was already
concerned at the way Europe exploited Japan as a market for manufactured
goods, he argued strongly against any large importation of Western
foodstuffs, something that ‘no Japanese patriot would ever desire ’. 28
Dependence on Western imports had at first been inevitable, since the
modern Japanese military was modelled on the Western example. Practically
every piece of equipment, from weapons to beds and uniforms, had
to be imported, not to mention the expensive instructors who were hired
to train Japanese units according to Western standards. The collaboration
between the food-processing industry and the military proved beneficial
for both parties. Military orders were crucial for the survival of the pioneering
Japanese enterprises at a time when the domestic civilian market
had not yet emerged and the export opportunities remained limited. The
armed forces, on the other hand, secured a reliable source of provisions
for the troops, marking the first steps towards self-sufficient food supply,
which would assume an increasingly important role during the 1920s
and ’30s.
Fighting Beriberi
Setting up a modern military was considered a priority by the Meiji government.
The Military Affairs Ministry was set up in 1869; a decree ordering
all domains to adopt the French model for their land forces and the
English model for their naval forces was issued in 1870; the formation of
the Imperial Guards, the first military force directly under the control of the
central government, took place in 1871; and the separate army and navy
ministries were established in 1872. The emergence of a modern national
military is conventionally dated either from the formation of the Imperial
Guards or from the Conscript Edict of 1873. 29
The birth of modern military catering goes back to 1871, when it was
proclaimed that the responsibility for feeding soldiers would from now on
rest on the military itself. This decision revolutionized the existing status
65