In Japan, meats can be represented by flowers and plants. For example, horse meat may be called cherry blossoms; boar meat peonies; venison Japanese maple; and chicken kashiwa oak. These are poetic ways of referring to meat by likening their qualities to flowers and plants. The origins of this practice date back to the Edo Period (1600-1868), when eating meat openly was prohibited due to the influence of Buddhism, which resulted in a secret language to avoid explicit mention of its consumption.

A closer examination shows that the colors or textures of individual meats resonate with the colors of the flowers or shapes of the leaves of plants. Avoiding direct reference—likening subjects instead to beautiful flora evocative of nature and the seasons—attaches a certain elegance and beauty to food equivalent to the graceful expression of Japanese poetry.

Likening meats to beautiful flora may also express a sense of gratitude and respect for the animal in question. The greeting itadakimasu, still used today at the start of a meal in Japan, similarly expresses gratitude for all of nature’s blessings.

Today, with the consumption of meat now commonplace, these euphemisms are appealing due to their playful spirit as an ingenious way of indirectly referring to food. The culture of inference of perceiving elegance and refinement in indirect expressions is an aesthetic that may still be alive today.

The work Floral Feast embodies the Japanese sense of incorporating the beauty of nature into everyday life and gratitude for the lives given to us in the form of food. We hope visitors will enjoy the flowers in this work in keeping with the season.

Art Director　Yasuko Sato