Beef and westernization in Meiji
When did meat become an essential part of the Japanese diet?
For both religious and practical reasons, the Japanese mostly avoided eating meat for more than 12 centuries and it was believed that beef was especially forbidden with certain shrines. Dietary customs began to change faster in the late 19th century and after the Meiji Restoration government began to chip away at the ancient dietary taboos. During this period, Japanese leaders embraced Western culture and traditions and broke with old customs in the name of civilization opening. Influential cultural figures, such as the educator and author such as Yukichi Fukuzawa, an educator, author, and a founder of Keio University, spoke in favor of eating meat, an act considered taboo from Buddhist perspectives. Students from the university were inspired by these teachings and began to visit beef hot pot restaurants to try the forbidden food.
On the 24th of January, 1872, the 5th year of Meiji, the emperor of Japan ate beef for the first time. Reported widely by the media, the news sent ripples throughout Japan and beef soon became a symbol of civilization and enlightenment, not only for those who were inspired by Western fashion culture, but also for the general crowd. The popularity of beef was helped by the fact that it was cooked with typical Japanese flavoring of soy sauce and sugar, which appealed to people in Japan.
While Western restaurants were limited to the Nihonbashi, Kyobashi and Kanda areas, beef hot pot restaurants spread throughout downtown Tokyo, especially in Asakusa and by 1877 there were 488 beef hot pot restaurants in Tokyo. The fashionable trend for beef hot pot can be seen in literature and art from the period. In Aguranabe - a famous collection of parodic short stories by Kanagaki Robun - carpenters, plasterers, rickshaw drivers, students and geisha are depicted eating the most fashionable food and gathering at beef hot pot restaurants, to gossip, read the news and partake in this new civilized and enlightened culture.
After the Great Kanto Earthquake, the beef hot pot dish created in Tokyo during the Meiji era was renamed Sukiyaki, a name taken from the Kansai region. After this, the popularity of Sukiyaki spread throughout the country. Economist Hajime Kawakami recalls that he and Toson Shimazaki were treated to sukiyaki at the home of a Japanese painter in Paris while studying abroad in the early Taisho period (1912-1926). Sukiyaki had become a familiar and well-loved dish by Japanese living abroad which was now a nostalgic reminder of their home.
