Children, women, children. Why do confectionary advertisements feature women and children? Even on Valentine’s day, which in the U.S. is supposed to be the day when men purchase the most chocolate, in Japan – such reverse trend cannot even be seen. While there are some signs of changes as represented by soshokukei danshi (herbivore men- refers to feminine men who are not aggressive in love and have womanly taste including liking for confectionaries), the social expectation that men should not be consuming sweets seems to be stronger in Japan. Are men not allowed to be sweet?
This paper stems from the simple question: why is chocolate associated with women and children? There has been abundant scholarship on the history of confectionaries and women, especially in this trend of gender and race studies. Works such as “Imperial Persuaders” (2003, 63-92) by Anadi Ramamurthy devotes a chapter probing the relationship between racism and chocolate through advertisement analysis. “Chocolate, Women and Empire: A Social and Cultural History” by Emma Robertson (2009) provides insight into women’s role in chocolate production to consumption. Yet, neither children, nor the reason why women became linked with chocolate is not fully elaborated. In the field of Japanese history, research has not focused much on specific groups of people, and comprehensive history tend to focus on the transformation of Japanese sweets (wagashi) (Akai, 2005).
In light of such background, the primary focus of this paper will be placed on chocolate. In particular, I limit my analysis to Morinaga Confectionary Corporation for two reasons: one, because they were the first store in Japan to manufacture chocolate from beans, and two, because they were well known for their marketing strategy: mainly advertisements. As for the method, I will analyze the advertisements of chocolate products on newspaper advertisements[1] from 1905, when chocolate advertisement started to appear until 1939 – when chocolate advertisements disappear due to exacerbating Second Sino-Japanese war. By juxtaposing the media analysis with the history of Japan’s Westernization of diet, this paper traces the gendered and aged trajectory of chocolate: first chocolate as a luxury item was mainly food for men, then from around 1920, it became food for children and women. My main argument is that in Japan, chocolate was established as the food for the weak. I will demonstrate that this primarily has to do with using milk as the ingredient.
Chocolate- a luxury product
When looking at the advertisements of the early days of Morinaga[2] (1904-1918), two distinct features could be seen: one, chocolate was a gift, and two, the main consumers were – in fact, men. During 1904-1907, confectionaries were often advertised for gift-giving practices. For example, the advertisement in year 1907 July 1st advertises various Morinaga products such as chocolate cream and marshmallow along with the text persuading customers to purchase Morinaga’s western confectionaries as summer gifts (chugen), because of its beautiful packaging and its delicious flavor.
This did not mean that chocolate was completely gender or age neutral. Smiling boy carrying handful of confectionary boxes -already in 1907, we can see children appearing in the advertisements (Image 1). In this respect, it could be said that while children were associated with sweets. However, they were not the primary consumers. They appeared in the advertisements but were rarely depicted as eating the confectionaries. On the other hand, men were shown as (almost) consuming them (Image 2). Similarly, women appeared as well, but in a lower frequency than children or men. As such, they did not seem to be targeted as the primary consumers. What are the reasons for this reverse trend?
Chocolate was a novel item in early 1900s Japan. Prior to this, Japanese sweets could mainly be categorized as wagashi, often made from red bean paste and flour (Image 3). Even after nanbangashi – Western sweets, were brought by the Spanish and the Portuguese around the 1543 the novelty of that was that it included eggs, which were back then not eaten by the Japanese[3] (Suzuki 1995, 232). Something like chocolate did not exist. As such, how people reacted to chocolate is unimaginable for us.
Chocolate was expensive. Today, where chocolate has become so ubiquitous to the extent that it can be purchased from stores at prices as low as dollar or so, it is hard to believe. However, as Coe and Coe (2013) show how chocolate was originally an exclusive food item enjoyed by the elites. This could be traced back to the origin of chocolate – the Classic Maya civilization, where chocolate in the form of beverage, was mainly used in religious rituals such as funerals and weddings (Coe and Coe 2013, 35-66). Even after the Spanish brought chocolate to Europe, and flourished around the 17th Century, it was initially consumed by those belonging to high socio-economic status (Coe and Coe 2013,125-178). It was only in the mid-20th century that chocolate was made into a bar form and became accessible to everyone (Coe and Coe 2013, 235).
The situation was the same in Japan. Slightly lagging behind nanbangashi, the first record of chocolate dates back to 1797. In a record kept by the cities of Maruyama and Yoriai of Nagasaki[4], the word shokorato (chocolate) appears as a gift a prostitute received from the Dutch (Bunchian 1960, 158-159). Around that time, chocolate was only known as rare food. However, during the first Sino-Japanese war (1894-1895), the sweet was imported from the US for the soldiers (Bunchian 1960, 158-159). Since then, the product slowly started to make itself familiar to the Japanese people.
Morinaga produced chocolate confections since its founding in 1899. Named “chocoleto kurimu” (chocolate cream), it was a sugar cream coated with chocolate. From its shape like a ball, it was often called “tama-choko” (ball chocolate) (Morinaga n.d.). Unfortunately, the price of chocoleto kurimu is unknown. However, based on the fact that it was assigned in 1901 as one of the products to be offered to the imperial family, and that the price of chocolate was as high as 135 yen for 100 pounds[5], it could be assumed that the price of tama-choko was not so cheap (Morinaga Seika Co., 2000, 72-73).
This explains why chocolate was associated with men – in particular, soldiers. One possible reason is because chocolate was a luxury product and thus was considered to be consumed by those fighting for the country (Image 4). Another reason is that Morinaga was already establishing chocolate as a nutritious food item (jiyohin), hence should be consumed by those at war efforts (Image 4 -1904, November 7th, 8). However, from the advertisements, it is unclear what it was about Western confectionaries that was made it so nutritious. The notion of sugar as quick energy which Mintz (1995, 147) argues for the British case, was prevalent in Japan as well. By the 1880s, we can see a notion that Western confectionaries were nutritious due to the inclusion of dairy products such as milk, butter, and eggs, but along with this was also sugar (Mitsuda 2017, 46).
When and for what is Chocolate for?
Men, women, and children appeared in Morinaga advertisements throughout the pre-war period. For the two years following the start of mass production of chocolate from beans in 1918, advertisements focused on promoting the benefits of chocolate –back then still a fairly new product, to the general public. However, a difference occurred around 1920: advertisements became more diverse and women, men, and children were targeted separately. By this, I mean that the advertisement rhetoric and images were now catered towards each social group.
Another change that occurred in this period was that children and women increasingly appeared in the advertisements, targeted as consumers. Men were also prevalent. However, the difference lied in what context men, women, and children were portrayed when eating chocolate.
Women are depicted as enjoying the taste of chocolate (Image 5). However, it should be noted that she is not indulging in the sensational pleasure the product gives. Rather, what the advertisement claims is that she is feeling the nutritiousness of chocolate from its slight bitterness. It says “not only sweetness is my preference, but this slight bitterness… the taste of the most nutrient and calorie rich food – Morinaga Milk Chocolate”. This could be seen as a strategic attempt of Morinaga to persuade Japanese people to develop an appreciation for the bitterness of chocolate, as it was commonly said to be too bitter (Usui 2016, 31).
Similarly, the nutritious effects are targeted towards children. In contrast to advertisements featuring women, those with children tend to have a plot. For example, an advertisement posted in February 12th 1926, features a boy playing wa-mawashi, with the caption- “children who play a lot, eat a lot and grow well” (Image 6). Below the words of Morinaga Milk Chocolate, written along with the price are the calories contained in a bar of chocolate labelled as nutrient (eiyo) (Image 7). Another advertisement featuring a kindergarten boy and girl, says “as neighbors and friends attending the same kindergarten, Hanako and Ichiro play together while eating their favorite milk chocolate”. The interesting commonality between these two advertisements and the those featuring women is that it is an ordinary scene in which they are consuming chocolate. In other words: they are eating chocolate on an everyday basis. for them, consumption of chocolate is embedded in their daily lives.
Left: Image 6 (Asahi shinbun, February 12th 1926, 8); Right: Image 7: (Asahi shinbun, December 27th, 1923, 6)
In contrast, men or men in their youth are mainly associated with chocolate-eating on special occasions. For example, Image 8 shows a boy – assuming from his school uniform like clothing, studying for class or exam. Accompanying this picture is the caption – “energy (uses the characters for effort) … chocolate on a cold day- energy supply”. What could be inferred from this is how chocolate is an energy booster (Image 8). There were also advertisements which claimed physical benefits of chocolate consumption. A man like figure named “M” walking is accompanied by the caption saying that “M, having realized the importance of calorie intake necessary of the body became a huge fan of Morinaga Milk Chocolate, and thus became smart and could run fast” (Image 9). In this case, daily consumption of chocolate is promoted towards men as well. However, it signifies transformation, almost like fortification. Unlike children and women who consume chocolate to gain necessary nutrients, men’s consumption is portrayed as a means to go beyond their original capabilities.
In the same category is this advertisement featuring a sumo wrestler, with the words “mantenka gohiiki” (loved by the whole country) (Image 10). Although sumo wrestlers were used for the advertisement simply because they were celebrity-like figure in 1920s Japan, it creates the association that even someone as strong as them were consuming chocolate and caramel. The words in the circle – Tabako daiyohin (substitute for tobacco) represents how constant consumption of chocolate towards men was promoted, but not for its nutritiousness.
Chocolate (Cream) to “Milk” Chocolate
Why did such change occur? The significant lowering of the cost could certainly be one factor[6]. However, I wish to argue that this was also related to the state’s efforts to Westernization Japanese diet. In specific, the key was – milk.
Japan’s modernization started in the Meiji period (1869-1912). The arrival of Commodore Mathew Perry’s black ship in 1853, signified the onset of Westernization. Behind such rapid start was the Opium War (1839-42). Seeing China’s loss against Britain leading to the signing of unequal treaties, Japan was alert by the threat of the West. From politics to everyday life, Westernization was carried out. Food was one aspect that major emphasis was placed on, because it was seen as the foundation to build stronger bodies.
Countering Western power entailed war. However, the Japanese, in terms bodily figure was much smaller in comparison to the foreigners. What was seen as the key for transforming those meager bodies was protein, in particular- beef, eggs, and milk. However, as written earlier on, egg-eating was already introduced to Japan around 1573. Furthermore, the first cookbook in Japan- “Ryori monogatari” (Cooking story), published in 1643 already included several egg recipes and a cookbook of 103 egg recipes called “Manbo Ryori-hibako” was published in 1785 (Ego 1995, 232). Although this may not necessarily indicate the degree in which people consumed eggs on a daily basis, it illustrates how popular eggs were at that time (Ego 1995, 232). The fact that these recipes were mainly savory egg dishes also shows that despite the fact that eggs arrived in Japan in the form of sweets and people perceived those sweets as delicious, it was not necessary the taste of sugar that was attractive[7].
Similarly, beef – although first met with hesitation due to the smell and the longstanding Buddhist prohibition, had become fairly familiar to the Japanese people by the late 1800s. Even though people raised smell as a reason for their disliking of beef, the odor of animal meat was not completely foreign to them. Hatanaka (2017, 27-30) argues that Japan has a relatively long history of eating animal meat, and that persisted even during the prohibition period. The ordinance did disavow the eating of beef, chicken, horse, dogs, and monkeys, but only during the harvesting season – from April to September. Furthermore, wild animals, in specific game such as deer and bores were excluded. People even continued to eat beef, but under the name of medicine. Amongst the Hikone han area, the present-day Shiga prefecture, gyuniku misozuke (beef marinated in miso) was sold as “Henpongan” -energy food and Hikone beef which was known for its rich nutrition and excellent taste, was sent to the shogun as offerings (Hatanaka 2017, 31). Due to the influence of Dutch studies that disseminated the notion that meat was nutritious, there were increasing number of game meat shops in the mid-1800s, and with the arrival of Perry’s black ship, beef eating started. Already in 1867, the first gyunabe-ya (beef hotpot restaurants) in Tokyo opened (Hatanaka 2017, 54). Followed by the newspaper report in 1872 that the emperor ate beef, abolished people’s hesitation. A statistic that portrays this is the number of beef store in Tokyo. In 1875 there were 70 beef stores in Tokyo, which in a matter of two years increased to 557 (Hatanaka 2017, 56-57). Although the prices are unknown, from the fact that gyunabe initially became popular amongst the commoners, it could be assumed that it was fairly accessible for people of all class.
Although the extent may not have been as great, beef spread as food and established a position in Japanese people’s diet, just like eggs did. Milk also gained acceptance amongst the people, but there was a slight difference in the way it was consumed.
One of the reasons why beef spread so rapidly was that the belief in its nutrtiousness. as such, it was perceived as a way to Westernize. Likewise, people believed in the rich nutrients of milk, but it was not food. Similarly, to the case with beef, the emperor played a major role in introducing milk drinking to the Japanese. Yoshida (1988, 79-80) notes how the newspaper article published on 1871, November reporting that the Meiji emperor drinks milk twice a day, served as a watershed moment. However, things were not that easy. Terada Torahiko (1878- 1935), a physicist, poet, and essayist reflecting back to his youth memory discusses how his first drinking milk experience at age 19 – year 1897. The image of milk at that time, he states was still “not something that people developed taste towards, neither was it nutritious food… It was primarily seen as medicine for the weak” (1948). For example, in Yomiuri Shinbun from April 12th 1875 (pg.3), in the section dedicated to the voices from the people, a man shares his concern about his neighbor who does not believe that drinking milk and Western medicine serves as the curing disease. What particularly conveys his belief in milk as a panacea can be seen from the fact that he described this neighbor not only “ganko (stubborn)” but “baka” (stupid). Furthermore, there were also letter from people who were concerned about the fact that the milk delivered to their homes were no longer serving its function as medicine, because it has recently been diluted with water. Even in this letter, the one who is drinking milk is the sickly mother.
Why was it so difficult for milk to develop from medicine to food? The reason was the smell – it stank to the point that it prevented people from drinking them or even made them vomit or cause diarrhea (Terada 1948). To drink such malodorous medicine required small tricks. For example, for young Terada it was to add coffee. He writes that this made him indulge in the exotic flavor of coffee and does not mention about the unpleasant smell of milk. Likewise, Fukuzawa Yukichi (1872), a famous writer and an advocate of Westernization, in the book “Nikushoku no setsu” (A view on meat eating), wrote that the odor of milk is something that people have to get used to, suggesting that adding deep roasted, thick coffee could help cancel out the smell. While the possibility of poor milk could be attributed to this smell issue, it is interesting to see that even in 1922, a recipe book written to encourage people to cook using milk – “Gyunyu ryori” (Milk cooking), included lemon in many of the recipes, possibly to ameliorate the unpleasant odor. In addition to lemon, another commonality amongst these recipes was sugar.
Sugar seemed to be something that made people consume milk. For example, in 1904 – a woman’s magazine Jyokan in the March 1st volume started a column to introduce cooking Japanese food using milk. The fact that this serialization continued seven times indicates its possible popularity. Yet, we do not know whether people actually made them by themselves. As the title – “Jikken gyunyu nihon ryori” (Experiment- milk Japanese cooking) suggests, this seemed to be quite a novel attempt. The opening paragraph of this very first episode also explains:
“In the West, using milk for cooking can be seen in cookbooks, but in our country, it is still considered as a daily drink. Using it for the purpose of cooking is unheard. The author, as a huge milk lover, thought that this was boring. Taking a step further, I plan to include it in people’s daily meal and succeeded in creating about a hundred recipes.”
(Shimizu 1904, 83).
While the first few recipes are thing such as milk tea and milk bread – not really Japanese food, there were unique attempts such as using milk as the coating for deep-fry, miruku-kan (milk yokan – red bean jelly, in this case using sweet potatoes instead) (1904, April). There were also some savory dishes such as “tamanegi” (Onion)-almost like an onion milk stew using miso and salt as the primary seasoning, and “togan” (winter melon) – again cooking winter melon using milk, seasoning it with soy sauce and adding minced chicken (1904, June). Yet, most of the dishes tended to be sweet, or used some kind of sweet flavoring seasoning such as miso.
This is not to say that sugar was continued to be seen favorably. Rather, by around 1910, sugar was seen to be bad for children’s health. Mitsuda (2017, 59) points out that this was related to the emergence of nutritional science around that time. This lead to criticism about wagashi – many magazine articles claimed that wagashi was not nutritious because it was just read bean paste and sugar. Sugar in this context was primarily seen as bad for digestion. On the other hand, Western confectionaries were still seen positively, due its nutritional effect deriving from dairy products. In such discourse, mothers were encouraged to feed them to their children.
Milk was for the feeble. The belief in the nutrient richness of milk meant that it was for those who were lacking or needed extra energy. In addition to those who were sick, a major focus was placed on children. Under imperial Japan, children were the main targets as the next generation to lead the nation. A recipe book “kokumin eiyo no zoshin to rennyu” (Condensed milk and the promotion of national health) (1935) published by the National Institute of Health and Nutrition includes a 26 page long introduction of which the latter ten pages – following the explanations of various types of condensed milk- argues that women and children should drink milk. Starting with the infant mortality rate, extending to the number of children suffering from scrofula, to incidents of tuberculosis amongst the whole population, it argues that Japanese diet is not nutritious enough. Maternal health is the solution they argue. In order for one to grow up to be a healthy, strong adult, it is essential that milk is consumed during childhood (National Institute of Health and Nutrition 1935, 16).
Conclusion
Chocolate was initially for men. From 1904-1918, when Morinaga just started advertising their products including Chocolate Cream, chocolate was a luxury product. Therefore, it served as gifts to others and for the soldiers. However, from 1920- two years following Morinaga’s manufacturing of milk chocolate bar, women and children increasingly appeared in the advertisements. In contrast to men who were seen as consuming chocolate for extra energy, women and children were eating it on a daily basis to acquire necessary energy. In Meiji Japan, Westernizing Japanese diet was one of the main aims of the Japanese state. It was by strengthening people’s bodies and build a stronger nation that Japan was to counter the West. In particular, Western protein food items such as beef, eggs, and milk were seen as essential. Yet, people’s resistance towards milk was unimaginable from today – it stank. However, by making milk into confectionary, people were able to consume this horrendous medicine. As children were seen to be the next generation of citizens, they were the primary target of milk drinking. Concurrently targeted were the women. Perceived as potential mothers, women’s and girls’ health was of major importance in building a stronger nation.
Perhaps, men simply just had more opportunities than women and children, therefore was easier to advertise in relation to special occasions. Even so, why were men not seen as eating chocolate at homes? Another question of interest is why chocolate was not targeted at elderlies? Furthermore, Sydney Mintz (1995, 147) argues that confectionaries became something for women and children because it was cheaper source of energy. Men, as bread winners had access to beef, whereas other family members did not. This caused children and women to consume confectionary. His main point is that children and women consumed confectionaries for sugar. Although I argue for the Japanese case in the 20th century is rather for dairies, I wonder how the situation was like in 20th Century Britain and other parts of the world. Regarding the short coming of this paper, a major point is that I only examined the newspaper of Asahi shinbun and some other media material which were mainly distributed in Tokyo. As such, I do not know the reception of chocolate in other parts of Japan. Also, Morinaga had a variety of advertisements such as films and events involving its consumers. These two points, I wish to explore to strengthen my paper.
Bibliography
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Asahi shinbun. (1904-1938). Asahi Shinbunsha: Tokyo.
Fukuzawa Y. (1872). Nikushoku no setsu (A view on meat eating). https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000296/files/47343_42900.html. [Accessed April 28th, 108].
Terada T. (1948). Terada Torahiko zuihitsu-shu dai-yonkan. Komiya et al. ed., Iwanami shoten: Tokyo. https://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/000042/files/2479_9658.html. [Accessed April 28th, 2018].
National Institute of Health and Nutrition. (1935). Kokumin eiyo no zoshin to rennyu (Condensed milk and the promotion of national health).
Shimizu (1904). Jikken gyunyu nihon ryori” (Experiment- milk Japanese cooking). Jyokan March 1st, 1904 – December 1st, 1904.
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Footnotes
[1] I examine newspapers of Asahi shinbun, as it was one of the major newspapers at that time.
[2] During this period, Morinaga did not advertise products individually. It was confectionaries in general.
[3] Eggs were not eaten in Japan prior to this period, because of the Buddhist prohibition on eating beef, chicken, monkeys, and dogs promulgated in year 675. Eggs were not explicitly under the restriction, but because people back then had a different conception of eggs as to today: eggs had a stronger sense of meat, rather than a premature form of chicken (Suzuki 1992, 231).
[4] Since Japan entered the isolation period from 1639, the Portuguese and Spanish were no longer able to trade with Japan. Dutch were one of the only Western countries that were allowed to trade with Japan. However, their access was limited to the port of Nagasaki.
[5] Around year 1904, a meal (bowl of tendon) could be purchased for around 10 sen – one sen being a hundredth of one yen (Morinaga n.d.).
[6] Previously, the price of chocolate was expensive because Morinaga relied on imported ingredient chocolate. However, from 1918, they set up their own factories and installed machines to start manufacturing chocolate from cacao beans. This lead to a major lowering in price (Morinaga Co., 2000, 72-73).
[7] Sato (1995, 217) quotes from a tourist guide of Nagaski prefecture – “Nagasaki Annnai” (Nagasaki guide) that one of the most popular nanbangashi castella (a cake like sweet made from flour, eggs and sugar) in 1624 was described as “the taste of it cannot be produced in any other way and truly unique. As such, it has become one of the famous confectionaries (meika) of the country by this time.
Chocolate Class 