I read ”The Birth of Izakaya” by
Ryoichi Ino. Edo had a great number of single men, which fully developed into
the open drinking culture of modern-day Tokyo.
Edo people liked bars that much.
If we compare how
much Edo period people drank with how much Tokyo citizens drink, the alcohol
content does not change.
Edo citizens drank that much.
Cheap sake is about
¥50 per 150mg. Pretty cheap.
Good sake is about
¥300.
Why not drink, at that price?
Bars are open from
the early morning, and from the early morning people are in there drinking.
Yes, you notice such people even now in
the streets of Tokyo.
The missionary Luís Fróis visited Japan
in the 16th century and said that Japanese people have an abnormal drinking
style where they regularly fall into unconsciousness. An act worthy of derision
in other countries is a point of pride for the Japanese.
Then there is the
record of Kikuya Osumi drinking down 4.5kg of sake at a drinking party 200
years ago.
Women showing pride about drinking
heavily: is this not a display of wealth?
The book “Shiju Hakkuse” describes
how women in tenement houses had care of midday meal preparation, and catered
hot sake, boiled pufferfish, and tuna sashimi from bars to houses. Records show
that they began merrily drinking with the neighborhood people.
They seem to have been happier than the
women of today.
It is said that 18th century central
Tokyo offered not only chicken, but hot pot, deer and wild boar as well.
Tuna was looked down upon as an
unrefined fish.
That is luxury.
In western restaurants, you choose your
meal first and order wine to accompany it; however, in Edo bars, just as in
modern Tokyo bars, people ordered alcohol and followed with food.
Alcohol played the starring role.
You see, I’m
wondering if we couldn’t produce a “drinker’s culture” by the year 2020.
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