Apr 7, 2021
On this episode of Ichimon Japan we ask: Are rabbits
counted as birds because eating meat was taboo in Japan?
Topics
Discussed
- The practice of counting rabbits as if they were birds in
Japanese
- Whether Japanese people eat meat
- What exactly qualifies as meat
- The history of meats "bans" in Japan
- The hypocritical and dubious nature of meat "bans" in
Japan
- What the earliest written Japanese records say about meat
consumption in Japan
- The influence Buddhism had on the practice of eating meat in
early Japanese history
- The declaration by Emperor Tenmu in April of 675 AD that
prohibited people from eating meat in Japan
- How the consumption of wild game was tacitly permitted
throughout much of Japanese history
- A description of a Heian era feast involving bear paws and
rabbit spleens
- Possible penalties faced by those who ate meet
- Having to fast for eating meat
- The arrival of the Portuguese in Japan and the hard time they
supposedly had adjusting to the Japanese diet
- The Tokugawa's promotion of Buddhist culture and ideas
- Meat bans and meat eating during the Edo Period
- Shops in Edo that sold the meat of wild game
- The discrimination faced by people who slaughtered animals and
tanned hides
- Consuming meat for medicinal purposes
- How meat consumption was looked at in a much more positive
light during the Meiji Period
- An incident in 1872 in which Buddhist priests broke into the
Imperial Palace due to opposing the Emperor's promotion of meat
consumption
- The death of the historical Buddha
- The counter system in Japanese
- What the Japanese counter -hiki (匹)is usually used
for
- What the Japanese counter -tō (頭) is usually used
for
- The supposed "correct" way to count rabbits in Japanese
- Various theories about why -wa, the counter that is normally
used to count birds, is supposed to be used to count rabbits as
well
- The rabbits are counted using -wa because their ears resemble
wings theory
- The similar flavor and net theory
- A theory that says that -wa is supposed to be used to count
rabbits because of the kanji used to write rabbit in Japanese
- The theory that people decided to count rabbits in the same way
they count birds because they wanted to create a loophole in order
to get away with eating meat
- An atypical reading of the kanji for rabbit
- How butterflies are counted using the same counter used for
livestock in Japanese
- And much more!
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Sources, Links, Videos, Etc.
For mroe information about Japan's relationship with so-called
meat bans, you can check out the article below. This is the one
that was found on the Kikkoman website.
Here is another English-language reference.
Here are some of the Japanese-language articles used as sources
for this episode.
To check out the two shirts inspired by today's episode, use the
links below. Or you can just go to KimitoDesigns.com. Any purchases
from KimitoDesigns.com will support this show.
Here's some of the Ichimon Japan episodes
mentioned in this episode.
Don't forget to check out the latest episode of
the Japan Station podcast.
Japanese Vocabulary
List
Most episodes feature at least one or two interesting Japanese
words or phrases. Here’s some of the ones that came up on this
episode. All information is from Jim Breen's
WWWJDIC.
- Usagi
- うさぎ (n) rabbit; hare; coney; cony; lagomorph (esp.
leporids)
- Hane, -wa, u
-
- 羽 : 羽(P); 羽根(P) 【はね(P); は(羽)】 (n) (1) feather; plume; down; (n)
(2) wing; (n) (3) (羽根 only) blade (of a fan, propeller, etc.); (n)
(4) (はね only) (See シャトル・1) shuttlecock (in badminton); (n) (5) (羽根
only) (also written as 羽子) (See 羽子・はご) shuttlecock (in hanetsuki);
(n) (6) (羽根 only) (See 矢羽・やばね) arrow feathers; (P); 【わ(P); ば; ぱ】 ;
(ctr) counter for birds, rabbits, etc.; (P); 【う】 ; (n) (See 五音)
fifth degree (of the Japanese and Chinese pentatonic scale)
- Umō
- 羽毛 【うもう】 (n,adj-no) feathers; plumage; down
- -hiki
- 匹 : 匹(P); 疋 【ひき(P); き】 (ctr) (1) (ひき only) counter for small
animals; (ctr) (2) counter for rolls of cloth (two han in size);
(ctr) (3) (き only) (arch) counter for horses; (n) (4) roll of
cloth
- Atama, Kashira, -tō
- 頭 【あたま(P); かしら(P)】 (n) (1) head; (n) (2) hair (on one's head);
(n) (3) (あたま only) mind; brains; intellect; (n) (4) leader; chief;
boss; captain; (n) (5) top; tip; (n) (6) beginning; start; (n) (7)
(あたま only) (See 頭数) head; person; (n) (8) (あたま only) (abbr) (See
頭金) down payment; deposit; (n) (9) (かしら only) top structural
component of a kanji; (n) (10) (あたま only) (col) {mahj} (See
雀頭・ジャントー) pair; (P); 【とう】 ; (ctr) counter for large animals (e.g.
head of cattle); counter for insects in a collection; counter for
helmets, masks, etc.
We Want Your
Questions
Is there something about Japan that confuses you? Is there
something about Japanese culture that you would like to learn more
about? Is there something in Japanese history that you would like
us to explain? We're always looking for new questions about Japan
to answer, so if you have one, please send it to ichimon@japankyo.com.
Special
Thanks
Opening/Closing Theme: Produced by Apol (YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, Fiverr)
Ichimon Japan cover art: Produced by Erik R.
Illustration in featured image: By Rhama based on concept by
Tony Vega
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Full Show Notes