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Conscripts at table, 1938.
new taste than to change one they had acquired in childhood. By serving
foreign foods that were new to all recruits, army and navy cooks not only
helped to level regional and social distinctions in the military, but also
speeded up the process of nationalizing and homogenizing Japanese food
tastes. Indeed, by the time that the (second) Sino-Japanese War broke
out in 1937, curries, croquettes and Chinese stir-fries had become soldiers’
favourites and acquired a clear military connotation. Historical records
indicate that many conscripts during the 1920s and ’30s considered food to
be among the most memorable experiences of their time in the military. 91
Some even included entire menus in their diaries.
The main impact of modern warfare on human food tastes may
lie in the fact that the thousands of conscripts are not free to choose
the food they eat, and that this experience shapes their future food
preferences. 92 Military menus in Japan reinforced the nationwide spread
of the ideal of rice as the centrepiece around which a meal was constructed,
and of soy sauce as a crucial flavouring agent. The inclusion
of side dishes that contained (canned) meat – motivated by the goal of
strengthening the military – set army meals apart from the daily diet of
the majority of the population. By virtue of their conscription, the sons
of farmers and other lower-class households enjoyed the new ‘luxury’
of being sustained by menus that would have been considered too
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