Food culture reading 1

shi-e-pe – THE REAL THINGS WE EAT

Catching salmon in the river

" They are catching salmon—look!" said Unacharo to me ; "the salmon are coming up the stream from the sea." The small net was between the two canoes, and each time they put the net into the water a large salmon was pulled out.  A woman sitting in the most forward part of the canoe hit the salmon on the head with a large stone.  If one escaped they would cry out and then this cry echoed off the high white cliff. Both men and women were naked, and the skill and speed was simply wonderful. They paddled their canoes down the stream, working the net at the same time, seldom missing a fish, On the other hand, it must be remembered that fish were so plentiful in the river.

Extract from: Alone with the Hairy Ainu (1893)

by Henry Savage Landor

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Catching salmon (and using nets) was outlawed in 1878 by the Meiji government so when Henry Savage witnessed this in 1893 the Ainu risked series punishment. 

…as in the following story

“Then he faced the flames in the fireplace and prayed to the goddess of the fire: ‘Today for the first time this year I have brought home a salmon. Please rejoice. This salmon is not merely for us humans to eat by ourselves, but for us to eat with the gods and with my children, as tiny as insects. Please watch over me, that I may catch many salmon hereafter.’”   (Kayano, Shigeru)

“One night [in 1932] a policeman stepped inside [my home], looked at my father and said ‘Shall we go, Seitaro?’ My father prostrated himself on the floor and said, ‘Yes, I’m coming.’ Without raising his head, he let large tears fall onto the wooden floorboards … . My father was being taken away by the police for catching salmon… . As my father was led away, I ran after him, sobbing.” (ibid)

Several problems associated with acculturation of Ainu during the first years of Meiji were:

·          Loss of hunting and fishing rites so a change in their staple diet (deer and fish)

·          Those forced into farming and made to grow non-traditional foods.

·          Changes in the way food was prepared including tradition ritual food.

·          The changing of names of dishes to reflect Japanese preferences.

·          Stigma attached to mountain vegetables used in Ainu cooking: example ainu negi.

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