What were we eating back then? (Comon Japanese eating habits from the late 1950s to the early 1960s)

As I've written before, I seem to remember my childhood better than most people. I probably remember things from around the age of one year old. In terms of time period, it was the later 1950s to early 1960s, in Nerima Ward, on the edge of Tokyo's 23 wards. It wasn't in the city center, but somewhere in between the city center and the suburbs. My father ran his own construction contracting business, and I think family had an average household income for the time.
The reason I'm giving this explanation is because I wanted to write down my favorite foods from that time. I think that food preferences are greatly influenced by factors like region, era, and economic environment, so I thought I'd write this down as reference data...for future historians who might read this. ...Well, that's probably not the case.

Despite this rather exaggerated introduction, the foods I liked weren't anything particularly special. Most of them are foods that are still commonly eaten today and nothing unusual. However, some of them have disappeared recently, or if they still exist, they're rarely seen, or they still exist but are prepared differently. But regardless of all that, I'm going to write about foods that I subjectively found delicious those days.　

First, let's talk about what people ate as their staple food in the late 1950s. When we talk about what people ate, we usually imagine main dishes and side dishes. But I think that back then, rice, or cooked rice, was the centerpiece of meals. It is much more than now. Even now, I think there are people who say they don't need anything else as long as they have rice, but those days, white rice seemed to have a strong presence on the table. Adults and children alike ate several bowls of it. Then, rice was cooked in a pot, as electric rice cookers were not yet common. My family even used something like a cocking kit used for camping. Why? I think it was probably because it was better for cooking small amounts of rice. In late 1950's, household refrigerators were not yet widespread, so I think people had to cook just enough food so that there wouldn't be any leftovers. That's probably why we used it. Rice was cooked over an open flame, such as on a stove, initially using a kerosene stove, and then in the mid-1950s, it changed to a gas stove. I remember the heat was significantly stronger that day, and the rice tasted incredibly delicious.

Since white rice was the main staple of our diet, we ate foods that go well with rice, such as tsukudani (simmered food), furikake (rice seasoning), natto (fermented soybeans), nori (seaweed), and raw eggs, more frequently than we do now. (I don't know how to describe all of these things together. If I had to say, maybe side dishes? That's not quite right.)
Bottled nori tsukudani and furikake containing nori and egg were particularly popular among children because they were frequently advertised on television. In particular, the furikake came with a sticker from the then-super popular anime series "Eightman" as a bonus. I would beg my mother to buy it for me when she went shopping, hoping to get one of those stickers.

Now, let's move on to the main dishes and side dishes. As for the main dishes, most of the popular ones from that time still exist today, and their popularity has probably remained largely unchanged. For example, tonkatsu (pork cutlet) and curry rice. So, there's no need to go into detail here, but butcher shops sold things like minced meat cutlets (which could be called tonkatsu-style), croquettes, and fried horse mackerel. There was also potato salad. What was groundbreaking about the way butcher shops sold their products back then was that they would give you shredded cabbage as a bonus. Also, I think they would put tonkatsu sauce on it or serve it with mustard if you asked. You might still see this kind of service in old shopping streets today... It was a good era when business was more relaxed.

As for main dishes, there were tempura and sashimi, but I don't think sashimi was eaten as often as it is now. It was considered a special treat, and I think it was something people didn't eat very often. Also, in the later half of the 1950s, household refrigerators were not yet widespread, so I think raw food tended to be avoided during the hot season.
What I remember most about sashimi is that it was served at the fish shops in a boat-shaped container made of thin wood bark called "kyogi," along with shredded daikon radish.
I think tempura was eaten more frequently back then. Boxes of tempura oil would arrive as gifts for mid-year and year-end presents. (The children were a little disappointed because they were expecting Calpis.) If tempura was the main dish for dinner the day before, my mother would often simmer the leftover tempura in a sweet sauce for breakfast. It was incredibly delicious, and I would eat until I was completely full in the morning.
(to be continued)