Nanzan University

Review
Author(s): Katarzyna J. Cwiertka
Review by: Katarzyna J. Cwiertka
Source: Asian Ethnology, Vol. 69, No. 2 (2010), pp. 343-345
Published by: Nanzan University
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40961330
Accessed: 14-08-2015 02:56 UTC

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Reviews

Japan
Tomoko Aoyama, RendingFood in ModernJapanese
Literature
of Hawai'i Press,2008. viii+ 273 pages,b/w
Honolulu: University
index.Hardcover,US$52.00; ISBN978-0figure,notes,bibliography,
8248-3285-8.

Food pervadeseveryaspectof lifein contemporary

Japan.Next to the mostobvious placeswhereone encountersfood supermarkets,
convenience
restaurants,
machines
it
and
is
also
in
the
media.
Food
stores,kiosks,
vending
omnipresent
and
food-focused
talk
and
shows
on
populatesubiquitouscookingprograms
quiz
and travelsectionsof
television,featuresin cookerycolumnsand entertainment
as
well
as
the
bulk
of
shelf
popularmagazines,
occupying
spacein bookstores.Along
withrecipebooks and pseudo-scientific
treatieson Japaneseand foreigncuisines,
food also permeatesmodernJapaneseliterature,
as TomokoAoyamademonstrates
in herfascinating
and expertly
researchedvolume.
The bookcoversa widerangeoftwentieth-century
novelsand otherliterary
forms,
in whichin one way or anotherfood playsa prominentrole. The materialis dividedthematically,
exceptforchapterI, whichfocuseson a specificgenreof diaries.
Chapters2 and 3 analyzewhatAoyamalabels "down-to-earth
eatingand writing"
- realistic
ofthehand-to-mouth
existenceofJapanesepeasantsand the
descriptions
of food. The former
workingclassesinvolvedin the productionand distribution
concentrates
on food as a signifier
of povertyand markerof socialinequality,
while
withthebodyand "polluted"food,as wellas hunger(in
thelatterdealsspecifically
botha literaland figurative
The connectionbetweenfood
sense)in women'swriting.
and genderreappearsin chapter6, wherecontemporary
textsby Japanesefemale
writers
areexamined,includingthebestselling
novelbyYoshimotoBanana,Kitchin
collectionofTawaraMachi'spoetry,Sarada kinenbi
(Kitchen,1988),anda celebrated
fromNinjjensoseji(Human
(SaladAnniversary,
1987).Chapter4 coverscannibalism,
Sausage,1936)setat the1904 World'sFairin St. Louis,to thefuturistic
Kachikujin
AsianEthnologyVolume69, Number2 2010

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| 343

344 I AsianEthnology69/2 2010

yapu(Yapoo, the Human Cattle,1970-1999),in whichthe distantdescendantsof
theJapaneseareraisedto be consumedbythe"white"aristocracy
oftheEmpireof
HundredSuns,akatheBritish
UniversalEmpire.Chapter5 looksat thegastronomic
novel- fictionthatdepictssome sort of gastronomicquest,includingbestsellers
suchas MuraiGensai'sKuidoraku(Gourmandism,
works
1903),and lesser-known
likethecomic-satirical
riposteto itwritten
byKoda Rohan.
themein Aoyama'sbook, theculinaryculture
Althoughfoodis thesuperseding
ofmodernJapanis not on themenu.As thetitleindicates,reading- not thefood
itself-remainsthefocusoftheanalysis.Food in chapter2 servesas a potentsignifieroftheordinary,
and eatinghumanfleshin chapter4 represents
a displacement,
- crossinga frontier
an encounter
withtheunfamiliar
intotheOther.Food in literatureis rarelyjust food,perhapswiththeexceptionof gastronomic
novels.Rather,
food in literature
is a code, oftenwithcomplexand ambiguousmeanings.As the
authorexplainsin the conclusion,"[rjeadingwiththe focuson food enables,encourages,and demandsmultipleinterpretations,
manyofwhichdestabilizeourunofhow literary
workdependson and createsitsconventions"(205).
derstanding
The richfeastcooked byAoyamais not alwayseasilydigestible,especiallyto a
readernot accustomedto literary
analysis.Yet, as a scholarof Japaneseculinary
I
find
this
book
in Japanese
history,
extremely
importantforeveryoneinterested
foodculture.
There is usuallya high degreeof correlationbetweenthe dietaryrealityand
the depictionsof food in literature.
Literature
can oftenserveas an ethnographic
sourcein the studyof (historicaldevelopmentof) food and eating.For example,
detailedsketchesof restaurant
and home mealsdepictedas the backdropof narrativesnot infrequently
revealimportant
information
forculinaryhistorians.
Aoyama's volumebeamswithsuch examples.NagatsukaTakashi'snovel Tsuchi(The
to
Soil,1910)and KobayashiTakiji'sKani kosen(Crab CanneryBoat,1929), testify
the dietarydeprivation
thatthe underprivileged
socialclassesexperiencedin early
twentieth-century
Japan.Ibuse Masuji'sKuroiAme(BlackRain,1966) providesus
withdetailsof the food supplysituationin HiroshimaduringWorldWar 11.The
line betweenfantasyand fictionappearsparticularly
thinin the case of modern
fromthe classicalnikki,beinga
diaries,whichas Aoyamapointsout, are different
kindofa hybridbetweena diaryand otherliterary
forms.Theyareoftenwritten
in
much
of
historical
into
the
narrative.
For
retrospect,
incorporating
reality
example,
Inoue Hisashi'sTokyo
SebunRozu (TokyoSevenRoses,1999), whichis thestoryof
womenfeedingtheirfamilies
and rescuingtheJapaneselanguageat thetimeofthe
Alliedoccupationincludesa real-life
ChiefoftheEducationSub-Section
character,
ofscap, Lit. Comdr.RobertKingHall Jr.Evenin thecannibalism
chaptertheconnectionwithreality
remainsstrong.Ooka Shohei'sNobi(Fireson thePlane,1952),
whichis a novelthattakestheformofa journal,refers
to wartimecannibalism
committedbyJapanesesoldiersin SouthPacific,and KaraJiiro'sSagawa-kunnotegami
(LettersfromSagawa,1983)is looselybasedon thewidelypublicized1981incident
of a Japanesestudentin Pariswho killedand ate hisDutch girlfriend.
In 2010 thePrizeCommittee
oftheAsianStudiesAssociation
ofAustralia
awarded
withtheMid-CareerResearcherPrize
ReadingFoodin ModernJapaneseLiterature

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reviews | 345
forExcellencein AsianStudiesjustifieditsdecisionbypraising"clarityof exposiand "theassurance
tion,""theprofoundknowledgeofmodernJapaneseliterature,"
oftheauthor'svoice" (http://asaa.asn.au/Announce/midcareer_prize_2Oio.php;
accessed26 September2010). Alongwiththesequalities,TomokoAoyama'swork
to the scholarshipon Japanesefood history,
has also contributed
clearlysituating
in Japanas a recentphenomenon.Accordmediaentertainment
thefood-focused
inspiredbythe
ing to Aoyama,thepreoccupationwithfoodin Japanwas directly
in
in
reaction
to
"the
which
turn
boom
of
the
1980s,
emerged
repression
gourmet
and oppressionof appetite"duringthe war and the immediatepostwarperiod
(131). "To talkabout food,to desirefood,or to be at all interestedin food was
regardedas vulgar"and evenat thebeginningofthegourmetboom "the
generally
pursuitof edibledelicaciesoccupieda verylimitedplace in literature"(131).The
factthatonlyone out of the six chaptersin the book deals withgastronomicfictiontestifies
to thisclaim.Moreover,as theauthorpointsout,TanizakiJun'ichiro's
Bishokukurabu(The GourmetClub, 1919),whichwas to become an exemplar
forthe gastronomicnovel,was only rediscoveredduringthe 1980s afterbeing
neglectedbycriticsfornearlysixdecades.
the consumptionpracticesof the past
As I have arguedelsewhere,attributing
of thepresentis a persistent
withthe characteristics
tendencyin Japan.Publicists
insideand outsideJapanare eager to drapeJapanesecuisinein an aura of exoticism,uniqueness,and traditionalism
(Cwiertka 2006, 179). Tomoko Aoyama's
to our understanding
of
one moreculinarymyth,contributing
volumedemystifies
thepastas wellas thepresent.
KatarzynaJ.Cwiertka
TheNetherlands
Leiden University,
References
J.
Cwiertka,Katarzyna
London:ReakCuisine:Food,Powerand NationalIdentity.
2006 Modern
Japanese
tionBooks.

Satsuki Kawano, Nature'sEmbrace:Japan'sAging Urbanites

and New Death Rites
ofHawai'iPress,2010.ix+ 220 pages,3 b/w
Honolulu:University
978-0-8248-3372-5.
photos.Hardback(alk.paper),US$47.00.ISBN-13:
Like manyaspectsof Japanesesociety,the Meiji impositionof "standards"seems
both internally
and exto have createdsomethingof an image of homogeneity,
in variousaspectsof Japanesesociety.Mortuarypracticesseem to be no
ternally,
exceptionto thispatternand SatsukiKawano'sbook is a verywell organizedand

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