For estimating nutritive conditions of ancient Japanese, the supplies of foods to the employees of Bureau of Sutra Transcript of Todaiji in 762, which appeared in the Archives of Shosoin, were analyzed, together with provisions of ordinary farmers working in kubunden.
Supplied goods for the workers in the Bureau differed according to their ranks (Table 1). Polished rice given to kyoji (senior sutra transcribers) was as much as 1.2kg, whereas only 960g was given to kosei (correctors) and 720g to zatsushi (miscellaneous servers). Unpolished rice (1.2kg) was given to kushi (underservants).
Though they were given a variety of foods, the energy mainly depended on rice (Table 3). While kyoji, kosei and kushi were supplied with large excess of energy per capita per day, the amount of rice furnished to zatsushi (720g,2426kcal) is considered to be feasonable. It is considered that the foodstuffs actually fed at the Bureau were the level somewhere about that for zatsushi and the rest were given in the form of materials as salaries. The amounts of supplied foodstuffs in Table 1 were corrected so that the rice supplies are to match that to zatsushi as the standard (Table 4). The level of nutrients thus corrected is listed in Table 5.
As a result, the intake of phosphorus (mainly from rice) and sodium (from seaweeds and hishiho) were too high, but those of lipids and vitamin A. Bs and C were slightly low as compared with the present standard dietary allowances.
The majority of the nation were farmers who worked in kubunden and could maintain selfsupports from the part of the harvest. However, it is considered that the rice supplies were only to fulfil 60 to 80% of their necessary energy which was obtainable from 720g of rice. They had to make up the nutritional shortage by eating mixed crops and weeds.
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