お肉の新しい魅力を岩手から|岩手短角和牛は肉のふがね

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お肉の新しい魅力を岩手から|岩手短角和牛は肉のふがね

According to data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF), Japan’s food promotion agency, 6.43 million tons of “edible food is thrown away” per year, or 51 kg per person in Japan. Many people may not realize that such a large amount of food is thrown away, but the data indicate that there is a lot of “food loss” in Japan, such as unsold food, leftovers, and food that has inadvertently passed its expiration date in the corner of the refrigerator. Conversely, Japan may be blessed to have such a good food environment, but in fact, Japan is said to have been blessed with a good environment since ancient times.
What kind of image do you have about the history of meat-eating in Japan?
Did you know that meat eating was actually prohibited in Japan for about 1,200 years from the Asuka Period to the Meiji Period?
In this article, I would like to introduce the history of meat eating from the period before our ancestors started agriculture to the Asuka Period when meat eating was banned.

Large mammals that lived in Japan

During the Paleolithic period, 20,000 years ago, the environment in Japan is thought to have been very rich. Fossils of large mammals such as elephants, tigers, elk, and bison have been found throughout Japan.

It is surprising that animals that are now found only in distant foreign countries were common in Japan. This means that there was nature and food in Japan for these animals to live.
Fossils of animal bones and nuts have been found in human remains from this period, suggesting that they had a diverse diet. On the other hand, tiger fossils have been found along with human bones in strata in Shizuoka Prefecture, and these human bones had bite marks made by carnivorous animals.

Although blessed with a rich environment, people must have lived in a world where it was eat or be eaten. Eventually, these times came to an end with the advent of the ice age, and large mammals disappeared from Japan.

2万年前には日本にはトラやゾウが暮らしていました

Did the Jomon people have a nutritionally balanced diet?

The Neolithic Age is particularly known as the Jomon Period in Japan, which is 10,000 years ago. It is estimated that the earth warmed during this period and the climate was similar to that of today.

People living in Japan, with its four distinct seasons, were blessed with abundant food from the mountains and the sea.
Examination of “shell middens,” which are thought to be Jomon garbage dumps, reveals that they ate a variety of foods, including acorns, fish, deer, and wild boar. Since earthenware became available in the Jomon period, it is likely that they used fire to cook and eat seasonal foods.

The Jomon’s diet, which combined foods from the mountains and the sea, is said to be the prototype of Japanese food. We must learn from the Jomon people.

縄文人は栄養バランスが良い食事をしていた

Beginning of Agriculture

More than 2,000 years ago, during the Yayoi period, a food revolution took place in Japan during this era. The cultivation of paddy rice was introduced to Japan by visitors from the Korean Peninsula and spread rapidly throughout the country. This was the beginning of rice, the staple food of the Japanese people!

In addition, field cultivation also seems to have flourished considerably, and it is written in Chinese literature that “Japanese people eat vegetables both in summer and winter.
While they were able to grow and eat their own food, they also hunted and fished, as depicted in the Dotaku (bronze bells). Domestic animals such as cows, horses, and dogs were also kept, but there is no evidence that they were used for food, and dogs are thought to have been used as pets. According to research at the site, they ate the meat of wild animals such as boars, deer, and birds. Perhaps they found more value in domestic animals than eating them for farming and transportation.

銅鐸に描かれる当時の生活

The beginning of the meat-eating ban that lasted until the Meiji era

それから千年ほど経った飛鳥時代、食肉の歴史上最大の事件が起こります。それが、676年に天武天皇が打ち出した『肉食禁止令』です。以後、明治初期まで約1,200年間この肉食禁止令は続くことになります。一つの法律がそれほど長い間続くことがまず驚きですが、そもそもなぜこのような禁止令が出てきたのでしょうか。そこには渡来人の影響が色濃くあるようです。

朝鮮や中国からの渡来人によって弥生時代は幕を開けましたが、その後も渡来人は来訪し続けました。渡来人は大陸の進んだ知恵をもっており、彼らの知恵と技術を得た国や豪族は勢力を増すことができたため日本人も当時歓迎していたようです。

そして、「仏教」が渡来人によって持ち込まれます。仏教は人々に真面目に働くことを教え、同時に殺生すなわち肉食を避けることとしています。これに注目したのが日本初の統一国家、大和朝廷です。大和朝廷が「仏教」の価値を見いだし国の柱としたことで、明治に至るまで肉食が禁止されることになるのでした。

明治まで続く肉食禁止令の始まり

About a thousand years later, during the Asuka Period, the greatest event in the history of meat occurred. In 676, Emperor Temmu issued a decree banning the consumption of meat. The meat-eating ban continued for about 1,200 years until the beginning of the Meiji period (1868-1912). It is surprising that a single law could last so long, but why did such a prohibition appear in the first place? It seems that the influence of the immigrants was strong in this case.

The Yayoi period opened with the arrival of people from Korea and China, but they continued to come to Japan after that. The Japanese people welcomed them because they possessed the advanced wisdom of the continent, and the countries and powerful clans that acquired their wisdom and technology were able to increase their power.

Then, “Buddhism” was introduced to Japan. Buddhism taught people to work diligently and at the same time to avoid killing or eating meat. The Yamato Imperial Court, Japan’s first unified state, took notice of this. The Yamato court discovered the value of “Buddhism” and made it a pillar of the nation, which led to the prohibition of meat eating until the Meiji era (1868-1912).

野生動物の鹿や猪は禁止されていなかった

summary

In this issue, we trace the history of ancient Japan using “meat” as a clue. This is a great opportunity to learn about the ancient lifestyle and even politics of Japan. In the course of the lecture, the prohibition of meat eating was mentioned, but interestingly, eating “wild boar” and “deer” were not prohibited. The meat of wild animals was the main source of meat for the ancient Japanese even before the meat-eating ban was enacted. Was it really to protect Buddhist teachings that “wild boar” and “deer” were not included in the meat ban issued by Emperor Temmu? Or did he have an agenda?
I feel the romance of history here. lol

 


 

獣医学部生兼FUGANEスタッフが書く、牛の胃に関する記事はこちら
第1弾 : 牛が草で大きくなれるのはなぜ?牛が持つ4つの胃の役割を紹介します
第2弾 : 牛のレバーってどんな働きをしているの? -沈黙の臓器、肝臓の解毒作用-
第3弾 :   牛の口から出ている「よだれ」の知られざる秘密

CECINAのEXTRA FLAVORシリーズ、八幡平の酒造「鷲の尾」とのコラボレーションの商品は下記リンクから
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