Shizuka Tsuruta: A Vegetarian Life in Japan
By Hiroko Kato
Shizuka Tsuruta is one of the few people in Japan who is called a "vegetarian." You can easily find her books at Japanese bookstores, though they sell few vegetarian books there. Before she wrote her first book on vegetarianism, the word "vegetarianism" was translated in Japan as "saishoku-shugi" (the policy of eating only vegetables), and people thought that the idea was something like asceticism. She, however, changed the image by saying that the original Latin meaning of the word "Vegetarianism" is to be lively and healthy.
Born in Tokyo, Tsuruta was brought up around animals because her father was a veterinarian. Her childhood was during the time when Japan suffered from a serious shortage of food after World War II, so sometimes the animals had to be killed and eaten. Tsuruta couldn't eat when her "friend" chicken was cooked, but the experience was not the direct reason why she became vegetarian. It happened when she stayed in London in the mid-1970s with people called "squatters," who occupied vacant houses illegally to demand basic human rights. They were the first vegetarians she met in her life.
"As a textile lover, my original aim was to learn about William Morris there, but the encounter with the squatters led me toward the path to live as a vegetarian," she said. "At first, I didn't notice they were vegetarians, because the food was so delicious and satisfying. Then, I never wanted to eat meat."
During the days with the squatters, she learned the philosophy of vegetarianism and its relation with world health, poverty, and ecology. "Before coming to London, I worked as an office clerk and struggled with the man-centered society. I felt that I came to a deadlock, but vegetarianism gave me food for thought about how to live. I found the essential matters necessary to live my life."
After two years in London, Tsuruta came back to Japan, started a natural foods restaurant with her friends, and published a book about her life with squatters. Then she began to write a book about vegetarian cuisine, Vegetarian Cooking. It went on sale in 1986 and sold out in just one month.
"My recipes are very different from Japanese traditional Buddhist vegetarian dishes. They are mixed with Japanese tradition and several kinds of worldwide cuisines I experienced, so people might find them fresh and interesting. The Japanese generally thought that vegetarian dishes were dull and deprived, but everyone who tried my recipes was surprised to find the richness in taste."
Now she has published more than 20 books — including the translation of Linda McCartney's Home Cooking — many of which are about vegetarian cooking. She has created over 300 recipes; all are simple but full of caring for living life.
"Raising vegetables by myself, I can feel that they are also living," says Tsuruta. "We eat their life forces, so I can't treat them roughly when I cook. The best way to taste vegetables' real flavor is simple cooking, and I don't want to use artificial food like instant food, because vegetables lose their vitality with additives."
Sometimes Tsuruta uses eggs and dairy products in her recipes, though she herself rarely eats these foods. "[Vegans fault me], saying that eggs and dairy are not appropriate for vegetarians, but considering contemporary Japan, such food makes it much easier to experience meatless dishes, and that's an important approach to widen the circle of vegetarians here. The point is not in the logic of what is good to eat and what is bad. More important is the stance of thinking what is the meaning of eating living creatures. I have friends whose family runs a poultry farm, and they bring up their chickens really earnestly. When a chicken becomes unable to lay eggs, they kill the chicken by their hands and eat it. I agree that the act itself is bad, but can't tell them to stop doing so, because they deal with lives everyday: they know the meanings of living and being killed through their work. It's totally different from the way that city people eat packed meat and never think they are taking away the lives of creatures."
When Tsuruta was a host mother of children from Chernobyl for their summer stay, she never forced them not to eat meat. "I just wanted them to get full energy to fight against radioactivity by eating their favorite foods to their hearts' content," she says. "Eating is certainly essential, but it's not the only matter to live. I never want to be a person who narrows the world because of their eating habit. For me, vegetarianism is the philosophy which can open my mind to have a wide viewpoint."
Tsuruta learned this way of thinking from Scott and Helen Nearing, a vegetarian couple and authors of Living the Good Life. She was struck by their lifestyle and met Helen at her house a few years before she died. "Scott used to tell Helen not to cook and encouraged her to read books," Tsuruta recalls. "I love cooking but agree with him. There are a lot of things to do besides cooking, really."
Ten years ago Tsuruta moved to a village surrounded by mountains and the sea, about two hours away from Tokyo by train. With her American husband, Edward Levinson, she created an old Japanese-style country house as cozy as "home sweet home." They set up a solar power system to reduce energy wasting, and cultivate a small field the organic way. "We are amateur farmers, but it's not so difficult to get enough harvest to prepare our daily meals. So we can allow monkeys and birds to take our vegetables, but they always find the most delicious ones before us," Tsuruta laughs. "The Nearings and Henry D. Thoreau, who escaped from city life and lived in the Walden forest, are our teachers. You know Thoreau was a vegetarian, too."
Country life gave her more inspiration to work than city life, and she has written many books on her life with nature. Her husband is a photographer and the couple has published some beautiful books together. She is preparing for her forthcoming publication, on Miyazawa Kenji, the famous Japanese author who lived as a vegetarian 60 years ago.
"Compared with 20 years ago, when I became vegetarian, Japanese society has changed its attitude towards vegetarians step by step. Nowadays, ordinary restaurants pick away meat from the dishes when we ask them to do so. To me, that's the same as asking ?Are there any non-smoking seats here?' I mean that ordering meatless meals is becoming acceptable to Japanese people, just as they are getting used to the non-smoking movement now. Though Japanese vegetarianism tends to be based on only religious or health-centered ideas, I want to tell you that there is much more to vegetarianism than these matters, such as ecology, feminism, and ethics. My field of work is widening and many people accept my view. Vegetarianism in Japan has not gained in popularity yet, but I believe the situation will be bright in the near future."
Tsuruta Shizuka's major Japanese publications on
vegetarianism
The Views of Famous Vegetarians in the World (Jinbunshoin, 1997)
Living the Organic Life (Shibata Shoten, 1994)
Cultural and Historical Analysis of Vegetarianism (Shobunsha, 1988)
Vegetarian Cooking (Shibata Shoten 1986)
Her major translation books in Japan
The Farm Vegetarian Cookbook, by The Farm (Yasosha, 1982)
Good for Me, by Barns (Shobunsha, 1985)
Home Cooking, by Linda McCartney (Bunka Shuppankyoku, 1992)
Sexual Politics of Meat - Feminist Vegetarian Theory, by Carol Adams
(Shinjuku Shobo, 1994)
Note: All of her books are written in Japanese, but you can enjoy imaginative photographs of her country life, even though you may not understand the language.
These are vegan dishes I enjoyed when I visited her home for this interview. The vegetables were all from her organic field. Tsuruta usually doesn't write regular quantities in her recipes, and recommends arranging her recipes case by case. Please enjoy these dishes!
HIJIKI NO CHIRASHIZUSHI
(Sushi Rice with HIJIKI seaweed and vegetables)
(Serves 4)
This dish is easy to cook, and the simple, fresh, salad-like taste will surely catch your heart.
2 cups rice
2-1/2 cups water
1/4 cup vinegar (rice vinegar is best)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup hijiki (a kind of dried seaweed), softened in water
10 ounces carrot, chopped
10 ounces nanohana (rape shoots; Brassica napus), chopped
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
Cook rice in water until done, according to package directions. Place it in a wide and shallow plate. Put vinegar and salt into a saucepan and heat them gently until the salt is dissolved. Sprinkle the vinegar mixture over the rice, and blend well, while the rice is still warm. The rice shouldn't be watery and soggy, so don't add too much vinegar. Boil hijiki, carrot, and nanohana with soy sauce until the vegetables are tender. Mix hijiki, carrots, and the nanohana in the rice, then leave until cool.
Note: Chirashizushi is a popular type of homemade sushi. Japanese usually cook the dish for special occasions like festivals. Hijiki, a thinly shaped, dried seaweed, may be found in Oriental specialty stores. It becomes very tasty when sautéed in oil, and is often cooked with boiled soybeans, abura-age (thin deep-fried sliced tofu), and carrots. If hijiki is not available, use any other vegetables you like or wakame (another dried seaweed). Nanohana, the flower of early spring, looks like broccoli, so substitute broccoli for nanohana.
| Total calories per serving: 436 | Fat: 1 gram |
| Carbohydrates: 93 grams | Protein: 11 grams |
| Sodium: 1222 milligrams | Fiber: 5 grams |
High in iron.
Broccoli Salad
(Serves 4)
Experience the freshness of this vegetable salad.
1 pound broccoli
12 ounces komatsuna (mustard spinach)
10 ounces carrot
1 pound daikon (giant white radish)
1/4 head cabbage
1/4 cup vinegar
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup olive oil
1 Tablespoon garlic, ground
Salt and pepper to taste
Boil broccoli and komatsuna in a large pot of water until tender. Drain, squeeze water out, then cut into small pieces. Slice carrots, daikon, and cabbage. Combine remaining ingredients to make dressing. Toss vegetables with dressing.
Note: You can substitute spinach for komatsuna. Daikon can be found in Oriental specialty stores. It is longer and a bit sweeter than ordinary radishes. You can substitute radishes for daikon.
| Total calories per serving: 237 | Fat: 15 grams |
| Carbohydrates: 23 grams | Protein: 9 grams |
| Sodium: 646 milligrams | Fiber: 10 grams |
High in iron.
Vegetable ODEN
(hodgepodge)
(Serves 4)
This is a great dish for a cold night.
1-1/2 pounds daikon, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 ounces kombu (kelp), cut into small pieces
5 dried shiitake mushrooms, softened in water along with kombu
1 pound satoimo (taro), peeled, cook as whole or cut in half
1/2 pound konnyaku (brick-formed gelatinous paste made from the arum root), cut into
pieces just bigger than bite-size
Salt and soy sauce to taste
Boil daikon, kombu, and shiitake mushrooms in a pot filled two-thirds of the way with water. When the color of daikon changes, add satoimo and konnyaku. Season with salt and soy sauce. Boil them for a couple of hours over low heat. Serve with hot mustard (preferably Japanese).
Note: Oden becomes tasty by cooking for a long time. Kombu and dried shiitake mushrooms make excellent soup after soaking in water for a while. That's the Zen Buddhist method of soup-making. Satoimo may be found in oriental specialty stores. It tastes slightly sweeter than potato, but you can substitute potato for satoimo if you wish. Konnyaku is very useful food for Japanese vegetarian dishes. It can be purchased in Oriental specialty stores. Though konnyaku itself has a plain taste, it creates great flavors when sliced thinly and simmered or sauteéd with other foods.
Values for konnyaku could not be obtained, therefore recipe analysis could not be completed.
TOFU Nuggets
(Serves 4)
Try this richly seasoned tofu dish.
1 pound tofu, drained
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tablespoon garlic, grated
1 Tablespoon ginger, grated
1/2 cup flour
Oil for sautéeing
Cut tofu into small cubes. Dip them into a mixture made from soy sauce, garlic, and ginger. Roll tofu cubes in flour and sauté them in oil until lightly browned.
Hiroko Kato is a Japanese freelance journalist. She is currently interning at VRG through the International Internship Program.
