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Food culture of mountain villages
The Saitos share the history of food culture in Oguni. 99.12.02/ Temperature: 3C/ Weather: Rain/ Wind Direction: NW
Current Location: Ogunimachi, 38 03 42 N 139 45 33 E
Distance Traveled: 0 km (Wisdom Point)How radically has the food culture of Japan changed over the past several decades? "360 degrees," says Mrs. SAITO Misako. The rich food culture of Japan's mountain villages has a long and harsh history. I spent the day learning about the hardships and consequent innovations created by townspeople of mountainous Oguni.
Seated in a Japanese style tatami (grass mat) room of , a municipal accommodation developed by the town government and run by locals, Oguni Town official Mr. Abe and two local grandmothers, SAITO Misako and SAITO Mioe, met with me to share the changing trends of food culture of their small mountain village. "Food culture has completely changed from the time I was a child," said the two elder women in their 70's. Mr. Abe added, "Only since the rapid economic growth of Japan have people become able to shop for food and buy imported goods. Everything in the past was either grown or collected from nature."
Home made pickles. Years of innovation have created wide variety in flavor and color. The two peppy grandmothers recalled what it was like growing up in Oguni during and after the war. "Buying food was seldom heard of. We rarely were able to eat fish. Particularly during the war, it was very tough," said Mioe. "My family was very poor. I had 15 brothers and sisters. There was rarely enough food," said Misako, struggling to bring the words to her mouth. Breathing deeply and rolling her eyes to keep back tears, Misako elaborated. "My mother was amazing. Even though we didn't have enough food or money she somehow managed to feed us. I am still impressed today by how importantly she treated every last bit of food. When I think of her hardships I feel sad for her. I often think that life today is too comfortable." Growing up in a time with when food shortage was a daily occurrence and long days of farm work continued Misako and Mioe told of their continually hungry stomachs.
Mr. Abe stressed how important it is for younger generations to know about the Saito's experiences. "It is important for us to know where our mountain village food culture evolved from," said Mr. Abe in a calm and concerned voice. "From the Jomon Period (12000 years ago to 6000 years ago) until fairly recently, Japan was a hunting and gathering culture. Since the introduction of rice culture and farming, people in mountain villages have supplemented rice with an endless variety of edible plants and pickled vegetables. The roots of our mountain village foods are not necessarily all that happy, but they created very innovative ways to obtain and eat limited resources found in the mountains."
Mr. Abe takes his chopsticks full of azukinoboshi, a dish of mixed vegetables and edible plants with sticky rice. This used to be quite a special treat. What did they eat and how did they get by? Mioe and Misako explained the art of gathering and preparing zenmai (flowering fern). Growing on steep mountain slopes, zenmai is not an easy plant to get your hands on. Men were in charge of collecting zenmai. In a single spring day one might collect up to 40 or 50 kg. Collecting is just the beginning. Raw zenmai is not edible. "It not just a matter of boiling zenmai either," said Misako.
In order create the soft and delicious zenmai that is often served in restaurants today, one must peel away the cottony skin, heat the zenmai in hot water, and knead it while sun-drying it. Once it is dried, then re-hydrated, it becomes a delicious dish. Collected and prepared in the spring, zenmai used to be preserved for the long Oguni winters. It was used to make pickles, soups, boiled greens, other boiled dishes. Without such foresight and variation to the menu, making it through the long winters would have been even more difficult.
As we spoke Mioe and Misako pulled out a large colorful tray of pickles. There was Chinese cabbage pickled in beer, daikon (Japanese Radish) pickled in persimmons, safflower, gourd and cucumbers pickled in sake lees, and pickled red turnips. I have lived in Japan for almost 5 years now. Never have I seen such a large variety of pickles in one place. I never would have imagine so many different flavors could be created from daikon alone.
"In the old days daily food was always the same," said Mr. Abe. Aside from the occasional yearly celebrations people continued to eat the same foods year round. In a time when food was scarce, the mountain inhabitants of Oguni as well as other villages all over Japan developed innovative ways to obtain food and create variety within their menus.
Though all of this innovation stemming from years of hardship has created variety in the food culture of mountain villages, the food culture which my three teachers speak quite fondly of is not completely being passed on. Mr Abe concluded, "Japan is now 60 percent reliant on other countries for food. This is only a recent phenomenon and one that we can't be sure will last. I think that it is important to pass on this tradition and the knowledge we have for it is bound to be useful."
The Saito's both expressed their thanks for overcoming the hardships of wartime and postwar food shortages. They continue to apply the cooking skills that have been passed on through generations, but they wonder what will become of Japan's food culture in the future.
What do all of you think about the future of your own food cultures?
Greg
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