2007 Volume 3 Pages 1-12
Japanese-style sweets called WAGASHI, have pre-modem origins, and they completed in the latter half of the seventeenth century. Today, most people call these famous sweets MEIKA. MEIKA is a rich blend of tradition and history. However, reconsideration from a historical viewpoint on the basis of Eric Hobsbawm’s concept of “The Invention of Tradition” leads me to believe that the MEIKA of today consisted in modem times. In particular, the National Industrial Exhibitions (1877|1903) held by the Meiji government for the promotion of industry played a role in the transfiguration of the sweets and the development of the MEIKA industry. CHOSEN-AME was the TOKI-KENJO of the Kumamoto clan of Hosokawa in the Edo period. After the Meiji period, the promotion of the industry was enhanced further through this exhibition and the prizes were used as a means of advertising the sweets. Subsequently, the sweets began to be used as army food. In addition, it became famous as Kumamoto MEIKA by having worked as Kiyomasa Kato with the source of history.
