Eating Habits in Medieval Japan : Some Problems Concerning the Relation of Feasting to Political Control

Abstract

In recent years scholars have begun paying more attention to the fields of social history and the history of everyday life, resulting in great strides throughout many research areas. The aspect of eating habits is no exception and is now beginning to recieve the interest it deserves. However, studies which attempt to deal directly and exclusively with the history of food, victual preparation and table manners are almost non-existent ; and so the actualities of this everyday event are still not very clear. Moreover, the place where meals were partaken of and its significance have hardly been touched upon. In this essay, the author takes up the problem of the relation between feasting (kyoshoku 共食) and political control ; that is, the problem of the relationship of feasting to the communal consciousness of the dining participants and their status at the site of the banquet. Also to be investigated is the burden of providing foodstuffs, on such occasions as the serving of food and drink to corvee labor and banquets held when surveying land and collecting the annual land tax. Feasts, which were held on the occasion of independent community gatherings in cities and villages, would call for drawing from the stream of the sacred water of comradship (ichimi jinzui 一味神水), an act which functioned to strenghten communal consciousness and signified a group pledge for unity. On the occasion of the acceptance of a petition for merciful government and debt remission (tokusei 徳政), or the rendering of decisions in disputes, food and drink were partaken of ; and in public places where legal statutes were acclaimed, banqueting would follow. When groups such as ad hoc bands (ikki 一揆) whose members were considered of equal status were formed, a common thing was eaten by all present. However, when there were status differences within the group, what was eaten and where it was eaten differed accordingly. For example, an investigation of a menu (kondate 献立) listing the order of food and drink to be served on the occasion of a visit (onari 御成) from the Muromachi Shogun in 1561 (Eiroku 永禄 4) reflects a stratified status order and assures that this status order will be maintained among the various participants at this banquet, which lasted from evening till morning. Whenever unscheduled, special corvee levies were exacted, as in the case of irrigation facilities construction and repair, food and drink were always served to laborers. While there is the view which puts such eating and drinking in a stage of history which predates hired labor paid in cash, and the view which holds that behind such food service lay the attempt to capitalize on the community's customs, during both the medieval and ancient periods the burden for the provision of food and drink, which was required in certain labor-related specifications, was for a long time the responsibility of the ruling class. Within the realm of the ruling classes, as well, food and drink were communally enjoyed at the time of land survey and tax collection. When cadastres were carried out by the surveyors sent from the proprietor, feasting, known as mikkakuriya 三日厨 and hirakuriya 平厨, was enjoyed ; and the burden for foodstuffs reverted to local peasants. Food for banquets during tax collection, however, was provided by land proprietors. Eating habits related to feasting and political control in Japan's medieval period and those in the early modern period differ remarkably. In the latter era, feasting lost much of its former meaning, the banquet all but disappeared from the scenes of corvee labor and tax collection, and on the occasion of land surveys, only a minimal amount of foodstuffs were mustered under the state land tax system. By an investigation into the area of medieval eating habits showing the relationship between feasting and political control, the author has been able to give a fresh insight into the nature of the social consciousness of medieval people and the structure o