Episode 544 – A Day in the Life of Meiji Japan, Part 2

Facing Backward Podcasts

This week, we’re continuing last week’s footnote on daily life in Meiji Japan. Topics covered this week include life as a conscript in the army, changes to Japanese cuisine during the Meiji years, and entertainment from kabuki to early movies.

Sources

Ishige, Naomichi. The History and Culture of Japanese Food

Drea, Edward. In the Service of The Emperor: Essays on the Imperial Japanese Army

Fukushima, Shingo. “The Building of a National Army.” Developing Economies 3, No 4 (December, 1965)

Sayaka, Chatani, “A Man at Twenty, Aged ad Twenty-Five: The Conscription Exam Age in Japan.” The American Historical Review 125, No 2 (April, 2020)

A great essay on early Japanese film from Sato Tadao of Screening the Past

A fascinating talk by Dr. Jihye Kim on the evolution of kabuki during the Meiji years

An essay by Dr. Nina Anarina on Shingeki, Kabuki, and drama in the Meiji years.

Images

The 1873 conscription ordinance.

Japanese soldiers during the Meiji era being drilled on firing lines.

A depiction of the Meiji emperor observing the fall exercises, a major part of the annual calendar for the army.

A statue of Ichikawa Danjuro IX, outside Sensoji in Tokyo.

Onoe Matsunosuke, a.k.a. “crazy-eyes Matsu”, one of Japan’s first film stars. This is from his 1910 film Chushingura, where he plays lead.

Momijigari, starring Ichikawa Danjuro IX. I’ll let you decide what you think of the performance