Keywords
Japan, Beef, Trade, Tokugawa-Meiji Transition, Westernization
Abstract
The long Tokugawa – Meiji transition (1850s – 1880s) is arguably one of the most profound socio-economic transitions that Japan underwent in its history. This paper uses beef consumption in Japan as a lens to further investigate the players involved in this transition. Historically more eschewed than other types of meat and tightly associated with the notion of the “other,” beef became an embodiment of progress and modernity during the Meiji Period. Through tracing the historical shift in the Japanese perception of beef, this paper argues that the evolution of beef consumption corresponds to the radically shifting attitudes of the Japanese towards the West.
To address the current research gap in the reception and integration of beef into Japanese cuisine, this paper starts the investigation from the late Tokugawa period. The early story of a “beef culture” reflects that a large part of Japan's modernization efforts was initiated by pioneering merchants and curious individuals in the late Tokugawa treaty ports. The paper also examines the diverse reactions of common Japanese toward beef, an essential part of the larger “westernization” campaign during the early Meiji period. Through popular folk literature and artworks, journals from western visitors, and an array of sources on Japanese food market, this paper illustrates that as Japan encountered Western culture in the nineteenth century, her people simultaneously resisted and adapted to it, creating a unique blend of tradition and modernity that was embodied in dishes like gyūnabe (beef stew).
Recommended Citation
Tan, Ying Yi (2024) "From “Defilement” to “Modernity”: How Japan's Encounter with the West Brought Beef to the Table," Swarthmore Undergraduate History Journal: 5 (2), 236-256. https://works.swarthmore.edu/suhj/vol5/iss2/9
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