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availability of foodstuffs. Moreover, the rations became standardized,
with the amount of calories, protein, fat and other nutrients to be provided
to all marines specified by the central authorities and the guidelines distributed
to the paymaster of each ship. The central authorities determined
in detail the kinds and amounts of food that each sailor was to consume
regardless of location, even suggesting how the food was to be cooked.
Wartime menu, composition of navy rations (1904). 59
type of food minimum amount in grams
Bread 187.5
Preserved meat 150
Dry provisions 75
Sugar 22.3
White rice 375
Broken barley 131.3
Tea 1.8
Fish 150
Roasted barley flour 3.8
Suggested menu:
Breakfast: a boiled mixture of white rice, broken barley
and roasted wheat, dried fish and aubergine simmered in
miso, pickles
Lunch: bread, beef stew with potatoes and onions
Dinner: a boiled mixture of white rice, broken barley and
roasted barley flour, simmered beef and taros, pickles
Additional: sweet azuki bean soup
The very nature of seafaring already required more careful provisioning
than was the case with land forces, which could (at least in theory) always
procure food locally. The introduction of a central food-control system
further reinforced the commitment to good quality catering in the navy.
The following statement included in the cookbook published by the Navy
Educational Division in 1918 reflects this attitude:
It can be said that the quality of the military cookery and the
adequacy of the menus directly influence soldiers’ nourishment,
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