著者

野間 万里子

出版者

日本農業史学会

雑誌

農業史研究 (ISSN:13475614)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.40, pp.77-88, 2006

被引用文献数

2

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In civilization and enlightenment period, gyunabe became popular, and for common people meat practically meant for gyunabe. Gyunabe inherited the way of cooking and the style of eating of kusurigui, most typical form of eating meat before the Restoration. But it became a symbol of civilization and enlightenment. The new government was encouraging eating meat, at that time. The Emperor Meiji first ate meat in 1872. He ate meat as Western food, not gyunabe, and the government regarded meat as beef and mutton. That is to say, the government considered that eating meat was a variety of Western civilization. I must add that besides gyunabe and Western food, there was another style of eating meat, a stewed meat stand. That was regarded as the food for the poor. Some reasons made it possible that eating meat was accepted as gyunabe. In the first place, people associated eating meat with civilization. The civilization included both Westernization and rationalities. The former couldn't have effect on people had ill feeling for Western. But the later was accepted more generally. In early modern times, to eat meat was thought disgusting conduct. Rational explanations were worked out to deny such a thought as superstition. Nutritional thinking also supported gyunabe boom. And, appetite was suppressed before Meiji, but after the Restoration, people could enjoy eating delicious things. This is also an important change. At that time, ranking formed among meat. The meat of wild animals seemed the lowest. Among the meat of livestock, beef was thought more refined than pork. Because pig was resemble to wild boar, eaten as kusurigui, and pork was associated with Ryukyu or Asia in spite of beef was associated with Western. As stated above, gyunabe was ranked higher than stewed meat stands. One of the reasons was rationalities, that was made valid by Western civilization. So Western food came higher rank.