Japanese Armed Forces Rations (Normal/Fresh Foods)

RATION COMPONENT:                     OUNCES/DAY

Rice or Rice with Barley (Note1)             28.0    

Fresh Meat or Fish                                    7.4

Fresh Vegetables                                    21.2

Pickled Radish                                          2.1

Shoyu Sauce                                            1.7

Bean Paste                                               2.6

Salt                                                          0.5

Sugar                                                       1.0

Tea (Generally Green Tea)                        0.2

Note: Japanese troops were not overly fond of the rice and barley mix, which was issued to stave off beriberi. When plain white rice was issued, troops were issued either pickled plums or dry prunes to supplement the nutrition in their meals in order to prevent the side effects associated with lack of B Vitamins in the white rice.

Even though brown (unpolished) rice was nutritionally more dense, several reasons existed for the prevalent issue of white (polished; without the husks surrounding the rice kernel) rice:

1. Troops prepferred the flavor

2. White rice would keep longer once cooked, allowing troops to pack pre-cooked quantities of it on missions lasting overnight

3. Field cooking, especially in mess kits, was much quicker when using white rice, and demanded even smaller quantities of water to be used.