Yokosuka navy curry served as a set with salad and milk · Photo: Ogiyoshisan / CC BY-SA 3.0 (Wikimedia Commons)
JapanKamakuraYokosuka Navy Curry: The Naval Port Curry Always Served With Salad and Milk
Yokosuka, the naval port next to Kamakura, declared itself a "curry town" in 1999. Here is the story of curry and the Meiji navy's fight against beriberi, which parts are fact and which are legend, and the rule that it always comes as a set.
White Rice, Beriberi and a Meiji Navy Problem
Yokosuka is a port city right next to Kamakura, on the eastern side of the Miura Peninsula. A naval port since the Meiji era, it still hosts bases of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force and the US Navy. The Meiji-era Japanese navy ate mostly white rice, and beriberi, caused by a vitamin deficiency, was a serious problem. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, one fix was the curry-flavored stew served in the British navy, thickened and poured over rice. The thickening is thought to have been so it would go well with rice and not slosh around on a rolling ship. Curry full of meat and vegetables filled the nutritional gap, and beriberi cases are said to have dropped sharply.
Legend vs Fact: Did the Navy "Invent" Japanese Curry?
With so many stories around navy curry, opinions differ. The Ministry of Agriculture presents the navy origin of Japanese curry as "one theory," explaining that discharged sailors carried navy-style curry home and spread it across Japan. The written record tells a more complicated story. The oldest verifiable navy recipe is the "kare rice" in a 1908 cooking manual published by the Maizuru naval training unit, and it closely resembles recipes already in civilian use. Curry appeared in Japanese cookbooks as early as 1872, so the idea that Japanese curry started in the navy is hard to support. Historians have also pointed out that there is no historical evidence for Yokosuka being the birthplace of navy curry. The safest view is that the navy was one of the stages that helped curry spread.
1999: Yokosuka Declares Itself a Curry Town
Today's "Yokosuka Kaigun Curry" is a modern recreation of the military recipe. It was born in May 1999, when Yokosuka City declared itself a "curry town" as a way to revitalize the area. The Ministry of Agriculture notes that more than 20 years on, it has become the city's signature dish. Interestingly, the name "Yokosuka Kaigun Curry" is a registered trademark, so shops must be certified by a local business group to use it. According to the ministry, more than 40 restaurants in the city served it as of 2021. The recipe follows the old method: diced meat, carrots, onions and potatoes are sautéed, flour is browned in beef fat, then curry powder and stock go in and everything simmers over low heat. It is sometimes eaten with chutney.
The Rule: Curry, Salad and Milk Come Together
Order Yokosuka navy curry and you will not get curry alone. Certified shops follow the navy's nutritionally balanced menus and serve curry rice with salad and a glass of milk as a set. Curry with milk may seem odd at first, but the milk also softens the spice. Another famous story is that Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force eats curry every Friday. It is often described as an old navy tradition to help sailors keep track of the days on long voyages, but it most likely began around 1985, when weekends became days off and the Saturday lunch curry moved to Friday. There is no evidence that it was a navy tradition. Even today each ship and unit has its own recipe and secret ingredients, so there is no single "correct" MSDF curry.
Eating It in Yokosuka and Taking Some Home
The JR Yokosuka Line runs straight from Kamakura to Yokosuka, so it is easy to add half a day to a Kamakura trip. Certified shops are spread around Yokosuka Station, Keikyu Yokosuka-Chuo Station and the harbor, and you can pair a meal with a waterfront walk where warships are often in view. There is more than restaurant curry. According to the Ministry of Agriculture, there are over 20 kinds of retort-pouch curry alone, popular as souvenirs, along with curry bread and other spin-offs. Yokosuka navy curry bread even won the first national "gotochi pan" (local bread) festival. The city also holds events such as the Yokosuka Curry Festival. If your dates line up, it is a fun way to compare many shops' curries in one place.