John Lindsey
08-12-2000, 10:11 PM
By Kumakura Isao
<i>Born in 1943. Received his doctorate in Japanese cultural history from the Tokyo University of Education (now the University of Tsukuba). Has been a professor at the University of Tsukuba; is now a professor at the National Museum of Ethnology. Author of Cha no yu (The Tea Ceremony), Nihon bunka no yukue (The Future of Japanese Culture), and other works. </i>
The first written record of Japanese table manners is an essay by a twelfth-century aristocrat. Included are sections discussing which foods are eaten with chopsticks and which with the fingers, at which stage in the meal one should eat hot and cold soups, and--even at this early date--strict rules regarding the handling of chopsticks. First, it notes three taboos: (1) Never lean over the table to grab something with one's chopsticks. (2) Never move dishes or bowls with one's chopsticks. (3) Never lick grains of rice off of one's chopsticks. Such prohibitions, later known as kiraibashi, gradually multiplied and were observed by Japanese until quite recently.
From the fifteenth to the sixteenth century--around the same time that the rules of etiquette were being refined and elaborated in Europe and written up in books--a rigorous system of etiquette was being developed in Japan, centering on the warrior class that ruled the country. The Ogasawara family emerged as the supreme arbiter in matters of etiquette. Books recorded in detail the correct decorum for everything from archery and riding a horse to eating and drinking at a party.
Where meals are concerned, there were specific rules regarding the order in which one is to eat. "First take the rice and eat two or three mouthfuls with the chopsticks, taking a little at a time. Next take a sip of soup. After that, take just two more mouthfuls of rice and begin on the accompanying dishes." Even today, the truly proper way to eat a Japanese meal is to begin with the rice, have a sip of soup, and take another mouthful of rice before proceeding to the other dishes. In this sense, table manners have not changed fundamentally in 500 years.
This calls to mind Luis Frois's treatise comparing and contrasting manners and customs in Japan and the West during the sixteenth century. The Portuguese visitor praised the Japanese for their excellent table manners and especially their use of chopsticks. When one recalls that Europeans were still eating with their fingers at the time, one can well imagine how impressed one of them might have been to see the grace with which the Japanese manipulated two sticks to consume their food. Needless to say, this impression was aided by the fact that the Japanese took great care in eating with chopsticks thanks to the various rules put in place to govern their use.
Of course, while some aspects of dining etiquette have persisted to this day, others have died out completely. For example, 500 years ago, the Japanese commonly ate vegetable-filled steamed buns at mealtime, and the correct manner of eating such buns is recorded in detail in the writings of the time. Nowadays, buns of this sort are for the most part served as a snack or--in the case of sweet buns--dessert, and the rules of decorum regarding their consumption are no longer observed. In this way, table manners have changed as foods have passed into or out of fashion. Generally speaking, however, we can say that Japanese table manners were established by the aristocracy of the Heian period (794-1185), embellished by the warrior class in the medieval period, and then developed in different directions by the various social classes in the premodern era (1600-1868).
Read the complete text at: http://www.japanecho.com/docs/html/270120.html
<i>Born in 1943. Received his doctorate in Japanese cultural history from the Tokyo University of Education (now the University of Tsukuba). Has been a professor at the University of Tsukuba; is now a professor at the National Museum of Ethnology. Author of Cha no yu (The Tea Ceremony), Nihon bunka no yukue (The Future of Japanese Culture), and other works. </i>
The first written record of Japanese table manners is an essay by a twelfth-century aristocrat. Included are sections discussing which foods are eaten with chopsticks and which with the fingers, at which stage in the meal one should eat hot and cold soups, and--even at this early date--strict rules regarding the handling of chopsticks. First, it notes three taboos: (1) Never lean over the table to grab something with one's chopsticks. (2) Never move dishes or bowls with one's chopsticks. (3) Never lick grains of rice off of one's chopsticks. Such prohibitions, later known as kiraibashi, gradually multiplied and were observed by Japanese until quite recently.
From the fifteenth to the sixteenth century--around the same time that the rules of etiquette were being refined and elaborated in Europe and written up in books--a rigorous system of etiquette was being developed in Japan, centering on the warrior class that ruled the country. The Ogasawara family emerged as the supreme arbiter in matters of etiquette. Books recorded in detail the correct decorum for everything from archery and riding a horse to eating and drinking at a party.
Where meals are concerned, there were specific rules regarding the order in which one is to eat. "First take the rice and eat two or three mouthfuls with the chopsticks, taking a little at a time. Next take a sip of soup. After that, take just two more mouthfuls of rice and begin on the accompanying dishes." Even today, the truly proper way to eat a Japanese meal is to begin with the rice, have a sip of soup, and take another mouthful of rice before proceeding to the other dishes. In this sense, table manners have not changed fundamentally in 500 years.
This calls to mind Luis Frois's treatise comparing and contrasting manners and customs in Japan and the West during the sixteenth century. The Portuguese visitor praised the Japanese for their excellent table manners and especially their use of chopsticks. When one recalls that Europeans were still eating with their fingers at the time, one can well imagine how impressed one of them might have been to see the grace with which the Japanese manipulated two sticks to consume their food. Needless to say, this impression was aided by the fact that the Japanese took great care in eating with chopsticks thanks to the various rules put in place to govern their use.
Of course, while some aspects of dining etiquette have persisted to this day, others have died out completely. For example, 500 years ago, the Japanese commonly ate vegetable-filled steamed buns at mealtime, and the correct manner of eating such buns is recorded in detail in the writings of the time. Nowadays, buns of this sort are for the most part served as a snack or--in the case of sweet buns--dessert, and the rules of decorum regarding their consumption are no longer observed. In this way, table manners have changed as foods have passed into or out of fashion. Generally speaking, however, we can say that Japanese table manners were established by the aristocracy of the Heian period (794-1185), embellished by the warrior class in the medieval period, and then developed in different directions by the various social classes in the premodern era (1600-1868).
Read the complete text at: http://www.japanecho.com/docs/html/270120.html