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in the military was also far above civilian consumption. 76 This gap increased
further during the 1920s, due to the economic recession that hit Japan on
the one hand and the reorganization of army catering on the other.
The European experiences of World War One demonstrated that
successful management of food resources, both at the home front and at
the battlefield, could be decisive in modern warfare. 77 Influenced by this
lesson, the new generation of policy makers in the Japanese army realized
that efficiently prepared, good-quality, tasty food was of vital significance
for the combat strength and fighting spirit of the troops. In 1920 the Army
Provisions Depot was entrusted with a wide-ranging reorganization of
army catering, and within a decade the mission was accomplished. The
innovations involved the introduction of modern cooking equipment that
allowed economizing on human labour, such as meat grinders, vegetable
cutters and dishwashers. The launch of a wide-ranging educational programme
for army cooks began with the publication in 1924 of Guntai chōri
sankōsho (‘Military Catering Reference Manual’), the first army cookbook
that clearly stood apart from civilian publications of this sort. Guntai
ryōrihō (‘Military Cookery’), published fourteen years earlier, followed the
model of civilian cookbooks, which were rather vague and did not even
specify the amounts of ingredients needed for each recipe. Instructions in
the cooking manuals that were issued by the Army Provisions Depot during
the 1920s, ’30s and ’40s were written in a very clear, crisp style and
each recipe was divided into an ‘ingredients’ and ‘preparation’ section, with
An army kitchen, c. 1930s.
78