9781422277454

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C onn ect i ng C u ltu r es T hrough F am i ly and F ood

Introduction

J apan is a nation of islands locat- ed off the east coast of Asia. It stretches for some 1,500 miles (2414 km) throughtheNorthPacificOcean and consists of four main islands— Hokkaido, Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu—alongwithseveral smaller islands. The capital, Tokyo, located onHonshu, isnowoneof theworld’s most densely populated cities, but Japanalsohas lush forests, towering mountains, and sparkling lakes. All thatnaturalbeautyremained unknowntoWesternersforhundreds of years. Inthe1630s, Japan’s leaders had begun worrying about the dan- gers of outside influences and the possibility that a European country would try to colonize them. They enacted an official policy limiting contact with the rest of the world.

The edict decreed that Japanese ships were forbidden to sail to for- eign countries and that no Japanese citizen could attempt to go abroad, on penalty of death. Then, in 1853, US Navy Commo- doreMatthewPerrysailedgunships into Tokyo harbor and forced trade routes to reopen. Suddenly, the peo- ple of Japan, who had been isolated for centuries, learned of new and different cultures. A few years later, when an em- peror once again took control after centuries of ruleby the shogun (mil- itary leader)—a turnof eventscalled the Meiji Restoration—the country underwent a period of great social andeconomic transformation.Cities grew, farmers were forced to leave their land, and workers were left