2 days ago
VOX POPULI: A bowl of ‘suiton' symbolizes the use of starvation as a war weapon
When I was a child, Aug. 15 was, without exception, 'the day my family ate 'suiton.''
This humble, wartime-style dish was made by kneading flour with water into a simple dough, shaping it into bite-sized pieces, and simmering them in a broth with whatever vegetables were on hand, such as daikon radish and carrots.
My father, who had been a hungry 12-year-old at the time of Japan's defeat in the war in 1945, would always say: 'Back then, the suiton had no vegetables at all. It was nowhere near as tasty as this. I was hungry all the time.'
Rice was almost never available, and even rationing provided it only rarely.
As staple foods, people often relied on soybean oil cake—the solid residue left after pressing soybeans for oil—and 'okara,' the fibrous pulp remaining after soybeans are pureed and strained in tofu making.
Japanese sweet potatoes, or 'satsumaimo,' were eaten root, skin and even vine, so much so that my father later declared he never wanted to touch the naturally sweet tuber again.
Of all the stories he told about his wartime youth, it was the ones about food shortages that carried the most weight, as though the hunger had never entirely left him.
In her book 'The Taste of War: World War II and the Battle for Food,' British historian Lizzie Collingham describes the devastating toll of wartime food shortages worldwide.
'The impact of the war on food supplies was thus as deadly in its effect on the world population as military action,' she writes. Her research estimates that during World War II, at least 20 million people died from hunger or from diseases linked to malnutrition.
Japan was no exception. Many of those who tended the fields were drafted into the military, while the U.S. naval blockade cut off the transport of vital food supplies. The result was widespread and severe nutritional deficiency.
By the final months of the war, the average daily caloric intake in Japan's urban areas had fallen to just 1,680 kilocalories, barely enough to meet the needs of a modern 8-year-old child.
Today, my thoughts turn to the people of Gaza. Israel's restrictions on the entry of humanitarian aid into the Palestinian enclave have made starvation a grim part of daily life. Reports of deaths from hunger continue to emerge.
The arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu includes allegations of war crimes for using starvation as a weapon of war. The deliberate imposition of hunger as a tool of conflict is something the world must never accept.
Eighty years ago today, the war ended. Soldiers had collapsed from hunger on the battlefield, and in its aftermath, civilians struggled on with empty stomachs.
Thinking of both the past and the future, I feel an urge to knead flour once again, to make suiton, and to taste it—mindful of what it represents.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 15
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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.
