Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

‘Sweets Reimagined’: The Construction of Confectionary Identities, 1890–1930

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Feeding Japan

Abstract

Contemporary discourse on the superior health qualities of Japanese food, it hardly needs reminding, bears little historical scrutiny. Until recently, yōshoku – not washoku – was seen to be more nutritious: it was through eating more meat, for example, that Japan should modernize and catch up with the West. Extending analysis into a neglected and peripheral area of food culture – sweets and snacking – this paper builds on recent historical re-appraisals of Japanese food through showing the extent to which conflicting narratives of yōgashi and wagashi privileged the former at the expense of the latter.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 99.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 199.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    For a useful analysis of this event, see Sugawa, ‘Hana Tachibana’.

  2. 2.

    For Japanese confectioners at the World Fair in Paris, see Ikeda, Nihon yōgashi, 684–97.

  3. 3.

    Ibid., 689.

  4. 4.

    Taniguchi, ‘Kashi shinsa no hōshin ni tsuite’, 15.

  5. 5.

    Quoted in Ikeda, Nihon yōgashishi, 693.

  6. 6.

    Ibid., 327–8.

  7. 7.

    Quoted in Ikeda, Nihon yōgashishi, 684.

  8. 8.

    See, for example, Katagiri, Kashizei sokuhaishi.

  9. 9.

    Quoted in Kobayashi, Kashi 30-nen shi, 171.

  10. 10.

    Cwiertka, Modern Japanese Cuisine, 21.

  11. 11.

    Ibid.

  12. 12.

    Rath, ‘Japanese baked goods’, 374.

  13. 13.

    For a focus on sugar, however, placed in its imperial context, see Kushner, Sweetness.

  14. 14.

    Adachi, Nihongata shokuseikatsu no rekishi, 189.

  15. 15.

    Ibid., 190.

  16. 16.

    Shōwa Joshi Daigaku, Kindai Nihon shokumotsushi, 10.

  17. 17.

    Ibid.

  18. 18.

    Ikeda, Nihon yōgashishi, 538–9.

  19. 19.

    Shōwa Joshi Daigaku, Shokumotsushi, 163.

  20. 20.

    Ibid.

  21. 21.

    Toraya, Toraya no go seiki, 91.

  22. 22.

    For the success of canned beef in the military, see Cwiertka, Modern Japanese Cuisine, 64–65.

  23. 23.

    Anonymous, ‘Nihon no kashi’, 536.

  24. 24.

    Tsuboi, ‘Kashi no setsu’, 8.

  25. 25.

    Anonymous, ‘Kashi no hanashi’, 17–21.

  26. 26.

    Mikamo, ‘Kashi ni tsuite’, 46–49.

  27. 27.

    Taniguchi, ‘Kashi shinsa no hōshin ni tsuite’, 14.

  28. 28.

    Ibid., 16.

  29. 29.

    Anonymous, ‘Nihon no kashi’, 536.

  30. 30.

    Thick, jellied sweet made from red bean paste, agar and sugar.

  31. 31.

    Anonymous, ‘Kashi to shōni byō’, 32.

  32. 32.

    Nagai, Ikuji no shiori, 172.

  33. 33.

    Tsubuan are whole read beans boiled with sugar as opposed to koshian which have had their skins removed and passed through a sieve.

  34. 34.

    Murai, ‘Okashi no zenaku’, 52.

  35. 35.

    Kashi Shimpō, April 14, 1907, 1.

  36. 36.

    Nagai, Ikuji no shiori, 169.

  37. 37.

    Mitsuda, ‘From reception to acceptance’, 180.

  38. 38.

    Quoted in Kobayashi, Kashi 30-nen shi, 93.

  39. 39.

    Mori, ‘Beikoku no kashi’, 4.

  40. 40.

    Anonymous, ‘Kashi kai zatsuwa’, 7.

  41. 41.

    Anonymous, ‘Kōjō meguri 1’, 5.

  42. 42.

    Anonymous, ‘Morinaga shōten 2’, 5.

  43. 43.

    Annonymous, ‘Dagashiya wa fuketsu’, 4.

  44. 44.

    Ibid.

  45. 45.

    Asahi Shimbun, April 5, 1928, Evening edition, 2.

  46. 46.

    Asahi Shimbun, February 22, 1924.

  47. 47.

    Fūgetsudō, ‘Watashi no mise’, 18–19.

  48. 48.

    Ibid.

  49. 49.

    Tsuboi, ‘Kashi no setsu’, 9.

  50. 50.

    Anonymous, ‘Nihon no kashi’, 536.

  51. 51.

    Yomiuri Shimbun, June 13, 1892, Morning edition, 4; August 12, 1892, Morning edition, 4.

  52. 52.

    Yomiuri Shimbun, December 22, 1893, Morning edition, 3.

  53. 53.

    Yomiuri Shimbun, July 12, 1896, Morning edition, 5.

  54. 54.

    Yomiuri Shimbun, December 18, 1912, Morning edition, 3.

  55. 55.

    Yomiuri Shimbun, May 18, 1915, Morning edition, 1.

  56. 56.

    Yomiuri Shimbun, November 1, 1926, Evening edition, 10; June 2, 1928, Morning edition, 6; October 25, 1928, Morning edition, 3; March 18, 1928, Evening edition, 2.

  57. 57.

    Anonymous, ‘Shinise’, 2.

  58. 58.

    Asahi Shimbun, December 22, 1908, Morning edition, 6.

  59. 59.

    Kurokawa, ‘Yōgashi ni osare gimi’, 28–29.

  60. 60.

    Sweet red beans sandwiched between two thin wafers.

  61. 61.

    Tōkyō Fūgetsudō, Fūgetsudō shashi, Appendix.

  62. 62.

    Penny sweets resembling the petal of flowers.

  63. 63.

    Anonymous, ‘Shosen chingashi’, 2.

  64. 64.

    Ibid.

  65. 65.

    Mori, ‘Beikoku no kashi’, 6.

  66. 66.

    Kobayashi, Kashi 30-nenshi, 339.

  67. 67.

    Mori, ‘Beikoku no kashi’, 6.

  68. 68.

    Murai, ‘Mise uri no kashi ni tsuite’, 4.

  69. 69.

    Ibid.

  70. 70.

    Anonymous, ‘Kashi no orizume wo haishi seyo’, 6.

  71. 71.

    Amano, Meiryū risō katei shumi, 175.

  72. 72.

    Ibid., 176.

  73. 73.

    Ibid.

  74. 74.

    Mori, ‘Beikoku no kashi’, 6.

  75. 75.

    Niizu, ‘Kodomo to kashi ni tsuite’, 9.

  76. 76.

    Ibid.

  77. 77.

    Anonymous, ‘Kashi daikan’, 5.

  78. 78.

    Kobayashi, Kashi 30-nen shi, 455.

  79. 79.

    Mitsuda, ‘From reception to acceptance’, 196.

  80. 80.

    Sasano, Kodomo no shitsukekata, 150–1.

  81. 81.

    Small round rice cakes filled with red bean paste.

  82. 82.

    Hara, Doku no hanashi, 269–70.

  83. 83.

    Small and colourful candy made mostly from sugar.

  84. 84.

    Ibid., 272.

  85. 85.

    Wayōgashi Shimbun, November 3, 1916, 15.

  86. 86.

    Ibid.

  87. 87.

    Yomiuri Shimbun, September 19, 1909, Morning edition, 3.

  88. 88.

    Wayōgashi Shimbun, October 15, 1917, 3.

  89. 89.

    Ibid.

  90. 90.

    Yomiuri Shimbun, September 21, 1913, Morning edition, 5.

  91. 91.

    Ishihara, ‘Byōnin oyobi shōnoyō no okashi’, 4.

  92. 92.

    Nagai, Ikuji no shiori, 172.

  93. 93.

    Ibid.

  94. 94.

    Ibid., 169.

  95. 95.

    Takeuchi, Jikken kodomo no sodatekata, 74.

  96. 96.

    Ibid., 77.

  97. 97.

    Ibid., 76.

  98. 98.

    Ibid., 74.

  99. 99.

    Mori, ‘Beikoku no kashi’, 6.

  100. 100.

    Joshi, ‘Chagashi haishi no setsu’, 256.

  101. 101.

    Ibid.

  102. 102.

    Tagawa, Fujin no shūyō, 92–3.

  103. 103.

    Ibid.

  104. 104.

    Wayōgashi Shimbun, February 15, 1914, 2.

  105. 105.

    Wayōgashi Shimbun, March 15, 1914, 2.

  106. 106.

    Anonymous, ‘Kashi no hanashi (1)’, 6.

  107. 107.

    Ibid.

  108. 108.

    Mitsuda, ‘From reception to acceptance’, 176.

  109. 109.

    Hōchi Shimbun, November 20, 1933, 6.

Bibliography

  • Adachi, Iwao. Shinpan: Nihongata shokuseikatsu no rekishi [New edition: history of the Japanese diet]. Tokyo: Nōsongyoson Bunka Kyōkai, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ishihara, Kikujirō. ‘Kashi no kuikata oyobi kuwase kata’ [How to eat sweets and how to make them eat them]. Eisei Shimpō 59, 9 (1906): 4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anonymous. ‘Dagashiya wa fuketsu de kiken ga ōkii’ [The dagashiya is dirty and very dangerous]. Hōchi Shimbun, August 14, 1900, Morning edition: 4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anonymous. ‘Kashi daikan’ [Overview of sweets]. Kashi Shimpō, May 1, 1907: 5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anonymous. ‘Kashi kai zatsuwa (2)’ [Miscellaneous talk about the confectionary world]. Asahi Shimbun, December 23, 1908, Morning edition: 7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anonymous. ‘Kashi no hanashi’ [Talking of sweets]. Fujin Eisei Zasshi 79 (1896): 17–21.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anonymous. ‘Kashi no orizume wo haishi seyo’ [Get rid of the wooden box for sweets]. Kashi Shimpō, January 1, 1907, 6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anonymous. ‘Kashi to shōni byō’ [Sweets and children’s illness]. Gekkan Shokudōraku 3, 7 (1907): 32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anonymous. ‘Kōjō meguri 1’ [Visiting factories 1]. Hōchi Shimbun, October 3, 1915, Morning edition, 5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anonymous. ‘Morinaga shōten 2’ [Morinaga store 2]. Kashi Shimpō, November 14, 1906, 5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anonymous. ‘Nihon no kashi’ [Japan’s sweets]. Jogaku Zasshi 194 (1890): 536.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anonymous. ‘Shinise no kōkoku’ [Advertisement in old shops]. Kashi Shimpō, June 15, 1907, 2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Anonymous. ‘Shosen chingashi’ [Just rare sweets]. Kashi Shimpō, September 1, 1907, 2.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cwiertka, Katarzyna J. Modern Japanese Cuisine: Food, Power and National Identity. London: Reaktion Books, 2006.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fūgetsudō. ‘Watashi no mise no kashi wa minna gasu de tsukuru’ [Sweets in my shop are all made with gas]. Gasu no Tomo 1, 3 (1913): 18–19.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hara, Seichirō. Doku no hanashi. Nichijō seikatsu [Talk of poison. Everyday life]. Tokyo: Kōbundō, 1904.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ikeda, Bunchian. Nihon yōgashishi [History of western-style sweets in Japan]. Tokyo: Nihon Yōgashi Kyōkai, 1960.

    Google Scholar 

  • Joshi, Keiryū. ‘Chagashi haishi no setsu’ [Getting rid of sweets as accompaniments to tea drinking]. Jogaku Zasshi 350 (1893): 256–258.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katagiri, Masao. Kashizei sokuhaishi konmō ikensho [A plea to abolish the confectionary tax immediately]. Kyoto: Zenkoku Kashishō Kyōgikai, 1890.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kobayashi, Gisaburō. Kashi 30-nenshi [Thirty-year history of sweets]. Tokyo: Kashi Shimpōsha, 1935.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kurokawa, Takeo. ‘Yōgashi ni osare gimi na wagashi no tameni’ [Supporting wagashi whose popularity has been increasingly challenged by yōgashi]. Jigyō to Kōkoku 6, 4 (1928), 28–29.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kushner, Barak. ‘Sweetness and empire: sugar consumption in imperial Japan’. In The Historical Consumer. Consumption and Everyday Life in Japan, 1850–2000, ed. Penelope Francks and Janet Hunter, 127–147. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan, 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mikamo, Kōtarō. ‘Kashi ni tsuite’ [On sweets]. Shika Gakkai Geppō 74 (1897): 46–49.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitsuda, Tatsuya. ‘From reception to acceptance: Chocolate in Japan, c. 1870–1935’. Food & History 12, 1 (2014): 175–200.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mori, Kitarō. ‘Beikoku no kashi to kashiho no jikyō’ [The situation with sweets and confectioners in the United States]. Jitsugyō Shōnen 3, 6 (1909), 4–8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murai, Kōsai (wife). ‘Mise uri no kashi ni tsuite’ [On sweets sold in shops]. Kashi Shimpō, November 14, 1906, 4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Murai, Kōsai (wife). ‘Okashi no zenaku’ [The good and bad of sweets]. Shokuyō Zasshi 8, 70 (1913): 52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nagai, Iwao. Ikuji no shiori [Guide to child rearing] vol. 1. Tokyo: Kyūen Shoya, 1912.

    Google Scholar 

  • Niizu, Shū. ‘Kodomo to kashi ni tsuite eisei jō chūi subeki kotogara’ [What to be careful of in relation to the hygiene of children’s sweets]. Kaji to Eisei 6, 4 (1930), 7–12.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rath, Eric. ‘Japanese baked goods’. In The Oxford Companion of Sugar and Sweets, ed. Darra Goldstein, 374–375. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sasano, Toyomi. Kodomo no shitsukekata. Ichimei ikuji kempō [How to discipline children. One person’s rule to rearing children]. Tokyo: Hattori Shōten, 1907.

    Google Scholar 

  • Amano, Seisai. Meiryū risō katei shumi [The celebrated ideal family]. Tokyo: Kyūkōkaku, 1906. Shokuyō Zasshi 8, 70 (1913): 52.

    Google Scholar 

  • Shōwa Joshi Daigaku Shokumotsugaku Kenkyūshitsu [Showa Women’s University, Research Group into Food Studies]. Kindai Nihon Shokumotsushi [History of food in modern Japan]. Tokyo: Kindai Bunka Kenkyūjo, 1971.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sugawa, Taeko. ‘Hana Tachibana ni miru meiji ki no kashi gyōkai. 1900 nen pari bankoku hakurankai e no shuppin kara mananda koto’ [The Japanese confectionery industry in the Meiji period as revealed in “Hana Tachibana”: lessons from the 1900 Paris World Exposition]. Minshū to Fūzoku 19 (2009): 20–35.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tagawa, Daikichirō. Fujin no shūyō [Culture training of ladies]. Tokyo: Kinkōdō, 1907.

    Google Scholar 

  • Takeuchi, Kunpei. Jikken kodomo no sodatekata [Experiments into the methods of raising children]. Tokyo: Chūo Hōtokukai, 1916.

    Google Scholar 

  • Taniguchi, Heihachirō. ‘Kashi shinsa no hōshin ni tsuite’ [On the criteria used to judge sweets]. Hana Tachibana 1 (1900): 14–15.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tōkyō, Fūgetsudō ed. Fūgetsudō shashi [Fūgetsudō Company history]. Tokyo: Fūgetsudō, 2005.

    Google Scholar 

  • Toraya. Toraya no go seiki. Tsūshi hen [Five centuries of Toraya. An overview]. Tokyo: Toraya, 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tsuboi, Jirō. ‘Kashi no setsu’ [On sweets]. Nihon Zenkoku Shōgakuseito Zuihitsu Senjō 2, 9 (1892), 7–9.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Economics, Keio University, Tokyo, Japan

    Tatsuya Mitsuda

Authors
  1. Tatsuya Mitsuda
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Tatsuya Mitsuda .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Languages and Cultures, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Andreas Niehaus

  2. Department of Languages and Cultures, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

    Tine Walravens

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2017 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Mitsuda, T. (2017). ‘Sweets Reimagined’: The Construction of Confectionary Identities, 1890–1930. In: Niehaus, A., Walravens, T. (eds) Feeding Japan. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50553-4_3

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-50553-4_3

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-50552-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-50553-4

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation