Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a daily column that runs on Page 1 of The Asahi Shimbun.
August 31, 2020 at 13:20 JST
Every time I encounter a story about food shortages during the war, I remember one photograph.
It shows a field created by digging up soil just in front of the Diet building.
Some men tilling the land are stripped to the waist, indicating mid-summer heat.
Under a wartime campaign to boost food production, people planted potatoes and other crops wherever possible. The food supply continued to worsen after Japan’s defeat in World War II, forcing people to even dig up scorched earth to grow crops.
“Showa Manyoshu,” a collection of waka short poems composed during the Showa Era (1926-89), includes a piece by Sakuhei Fujiwara.
“As I was too physically weak/ To do anything/ I tried to grow straight cucumbers”
The author might have found solace in tilling the soil and growing straight cucumbers in the middle of the food shortage.
The coronavirus crisis appears to have increased the number of people working in the fields, although it is no comparison with the situation during and immediately after the war.
A recent survey by a nursery company found that 30 percent of respondents growing vegetables and other crops in kitchen gardens started in March.
One factor behind that is probably the increased hours people had to spend at home amid the restrictions to prevent the spread of infections.
I started my own vegetable garden this spring. I had no idea how fast cucumbers grow. I had to pluck many that had overgrown.
By contrast, you have to wait many days before tomatoes turn bright red.
Every vegetable has its own rhythm. I now find it unnatural that carbon-copy vegetables line supermarket shelves all year round.
Some people have probably started cooking more meals at home and are dining out less. Others have taken to handicraft, after making face masks by hand.
We are learning the pleasure of making things ourselves amid the circumstances, instead of buying everything we need.
Observing this trend, I can say things are not all doom and gloom amid the pandemic.
--The Asahi Shimbun, Aug. 30
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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.
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People grow vegetables in Tokyo’s Shinjuku district in September 1947. (Asahi Shimbun file photo)
