The Cultural History of Udo as a Food through Japanese Classics

Abstract

This study aims to elucidate the cultural history of Udo’s acceptance as a food ingredient through Japanese classics. Initially classified as a “grass” and used medicinally until the Heian era, Udo was first depicted as a food in the late Heian-era imayō collection “Ryōjin Hishō” There, ascetic monks sang its name alongside other plants as a source of sustenance. By the Muromachi era, Udo was treated as a “vegetable” in health manuals, ōrai-mono, and otogi-zōshi. Diaries and tea ceremony records from that era indicate Udo’s frequent appearance on the tables of nobles and its role as a gift or subject of miscellaneous taxes. Edo-era haikai poetry and paintings reveal Udo’s widespread acceptance as a familiar ingredient across social classes, its deep integration into daily life, and its cultivation. As one of the few native Japanese ingredients in washoku, Udo’s broad recognition and continued consumption as a food ingredient warrant consideration.