This article traces the history of cuisine of Japan. Foods and food preparation by the early Japanese Neolithic settlements can be pieced together from archaeological studies, and reveals paramount importance of rice and seafood since early times.
The Kofun period (3rd to 7th centuries) is shrouded in uncertainty. Some entries in Japan's earliest written chronicles hint at a picture of food habits from the time of the formation of the Yamato dynasty. When Buddhism became widely accepted with the rise of the Soga clan, a taboo on the eating meat (especially mammals) began to be enforced, and became common practice, although wild game was still being taken by mountain people, and would be eaten by townspeople when the opportunity arose.
Treatises on ceremony, tax documents, and fiction allows one to make a list of food ingredients used, and basic preparation methods in the Heian period. However anything like recipes from the Middle Ages are a rare commodity in Japan or any country.
Records throughout Middle Ages may give some idea of the dishes being enjoyed, but do not give details such as to provide accurate recipes.
Once Japan entered the Edo period, there were rich records of foods and cuisine from commoners (i.e., non-samurai), who were largely literate, and produced a great deal of wood-block printed literature.
Early history (before 794) Following the Jōmon period (14,000–300 BCE), Japanese society shifted from semi-sedentary hunter-gatherer lifestyle to an agricultural society. This was the period in which rice cultivation began, having been introduced by China around the third century BCE. Rice was commonly boiled plain and called gohan or meshi, and, as cooked rice has since been the preferred staple of the meal, the terms are used as synonyms for the word "meal". Peasants often mixed millet with rice, especially in mountainous regions where rice did not proliferate.
During the Kofun period (300 to 538 AD), Chinese culture was introduced into Japan from Korea. As such, Buddhism became influential on Japanese culture. After the 6th century, Japan directly pursued the imitation of Chinese culture of the Tang dynasty (618 to 907). It was this influence that marked the taboos on the consumption of meat in Japan. In 675 AD, Emperor Tenmu decreed a prohibition on the consumption of cattle, horses, dogs, monkeys, and chickens during the 4th-9th months of the year; to break the law would mean a death sentence. Monkey was eaten prior to this time, but was eaten more in a ritualistic style for medicinal purposes. Chickens were often domesticated as pets, while cattle and horses were rare and treated as such. A cow or horse would be ritually sacrificed on the first day of rice paddy cultivation, a ritual introduced from China. Emperor Tenmu's decree, however, did not ban the consumption of deer or wild boar, which were important to the Japanese diet at that time.
Heian period (794-1185) The Heian Period (794 to 1185) in the 8th century saw many additional decrees made by emperors and empresses banning the killing of any animals. In 752 AD, Empress Kōken decreed a ban on fishing, but made a promise that adequate rice would be given to fishermen whose livelihood would have otherwise been destroyed. In 927 AD, regulations were enacted that stated that any government official or member of nobility that ate meat was deemed unclean for three days and could not participate in Shinto observances at the imperial court.
It was also the influence of Chinese cultures through Korea that brought chopsticks to Japan early in this period. Chopsticks at this time were used by nobility at banquets; they were not used as everyday utensils however, as hands were still commonly used to eat. Metal spoons were also used during the 8th and 9th centuries, but only by the nobility. Dining tables were also introduced to Japan at this time. Commoners used a legless table called a oshiki, while nobility used a lacquered table with legs called a zen. Each person used his own table. Lavish banquets for the nobility would have multiple tables for each individual based upon the number of dishes presented.