Evening star., 1907-08-18
WHAT THE JAPS EAT
Sample Bill of Fare in Marvel
GUS Nippon.
"LOW PROTEID STANDARD"
Which Means in English That Little
Meat Is Eaten.
MIGHT NOT SUIT OUR RACE
Horace Fletcher Says japanese Diet
ary Habits Are Admirable, But
May Not Do Here.

Here is typical bill of fare of Japan
ese family in moderate circumstances. All
Japanese, generally speaking, live simply.
whether of high or low station in life, and
the menu given herewith, supplied by
Japanese who has made a study Of the
dietary habits Of his people, may fairly be
taken as typical Of that in force with all
classes of people Of Japan:
MISC soup, with vegetables.
Boiled rice, pickles and tea.
Sometimes raw egg or boiled sweet soya beans
or matto
Lunch 12 noon).
Fish boiled in soya.
Vegetables stewed in soya.
Boiled rice, pickles, tea.
Supper from to GAO;
Raw IDS 2sh slice sliced. eaten with sosa sauce,
broled fish,
fish boiled with vegetables.
or small quantity of butchers meat,
or fowl and vegetables.
The misc, soya sauce, and topi all
products of the soya bean, on which, with
rice. the japanese physique may be said to
be built up.
All dishes at a Japanese meal are placed
before the eater a tray, and not in
separate courses, and the Japanese eats of
each frugal portion, and eats 1t slowly
and carefully. Rice is the main foodstuff.
with the soya bean a close second, and 1t Is
calculated that the average healthy Japan
ese adult consumes about nine very small
bowlfuls of rice daily.
In the island nation of Japan" says
Prof Chittenden, in the New York Times
whose exploits in war have recently at
tracted the attention of the civilized world.
We find a people the great majority of
whom have remained untouched by the
prodigality of western civilization, and
uyb "a G nd a M
print Of simplicity and frugality.'
Powers of Endurance
Yet the people of no other nation, as
many observers have pointed out, especially
since the war with Russia have greater
powers of physical endurance or great
er bodily strength and agility, pro-
portion to average body weight and
stature. And in view of the fact that Of
late a bogey war cloud has been floating
in the sky above the sea that separates the
Sans domain, an examination of the diet
of the Japanese becomes of especial inter-
est. For upon the diet of an army and
powers its strength, It's endurance, and
It's courage, to a large extent, for we'll
nourished fighters are bolder and braver
shores of the Island Kingdom from Uncle
than the StarvelingS.
1T is plainly evident" says Prof. Chit
tanden, that the daily diet Of the great
bulk of the Japanese people has been
characterized by a very low proteid (or
non-meaD STANDARD, as contrasted with the
standards of majority of European
and American people. The fact is brought
forward merely as conf1rmatory evidence,
On large scale, of the perfect safety of
lowering the consumption of proted food
below the amounts which commonly accept
ed standards call for. Generations of low
proteid feeding. with the temperance and
simplicity in dietary matters thereby I'M
4 I'LL o. ty, xha
of phenomenal development and advance
ment when the gateway was opened for the
ingress of modern ideas from western civil
lization."
What Mr.. Fletcher Says.
Horace Fletcher, who has lived In Japan
for many years at various times, and who
is one of the few white men living today
who have personal knowledge of the life in
Japan in feudal days was asked regarding
the diet of the japanese and the value its
study has for Americans today.
"A great many observers have called at
tention to the remarkable efficiency which
the japanese fighters display on the slim
ana simple diet" said Mr.. Fletcher, but I,
for one think that such observations have
little value for US in comparison with the
value Of studying models of simple living
among our own people. We are racially
different from the Japanese While a great
deal may be gained by studying them, and
while 1t is true that much of their dietary
ha5its are admirable. still we are not jap
anese. and what may suit them may not
suit u.s. at least not well as habits fol-
lowed by men OF our own race. If we seek
for models of soldiers and sailors who are
splendid examples of energy and efficiency
on low proteid diet, combined with thor
ough mastication, we need not go beyond
own army and navy circles.
THE Importance of dietetics In connec
ton with military efficiency Is today be-
coming as generally recognized as the fact
taat the nutrition of the body has very
much to do with the vitality and temper
Efforts. Mans nourishment indeed, has
developed new branch Of science under
this name of dietetics, now formally recog-
niZed by scientists.
Caucasian Superiority.
"Anglo-Saxon and European superiority
as expressed by the domination of such
races over the orientals-was credited
largely to the dietetic habits of the white
people. The Russo-Japanese war upset
this theory to some degree, as the Japa-
nese, as race, practiced habits Of eating
which were very different from the occi-
dental habits and quite typical Of the orien-
tal The Introduction of meat into the
Japanese navy, in order to combat the in
roads of the disease known as beri-beri,
however, has added measure OF confu-
sion to what intelligence we had on the
subject.
II have Just returned from a trip through
Ceylon Java, the Straits settlements,
Borneo. China, Burmah and India. and I
missed no opportunity to make inquiries
into the food habits Of the people,