Yokohama Gyunabe: The Beef Hot Pot That Meant You Were Modern

Japan long avoided eating beef, and port-era Yokohama was where it first became everyday food. From the first gyunabe shop in 1862 to how it differs from sukiyaki and how to try it in Yokohama today.

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An Open Port and Foreigners Who Wanted Beef

For centuries Japan treated cattle as farm animals and rarely ate beef. Change began in Yokohama, whose port opened in 1859. As Westerners settled in the foreign quarter beside the harbor, demand for beef rose sharply. Imported beef was not enough, so cattle from the Kinki and Chugoku regions were shipped to Yokohama by way of Kobe, and in 1864 a slaughterhouse was reportedly permitted on Kaigan-dori, the waterfront street. Once beef meant for foreigners was flowing into the port town, locals began experimenting with ways to cook it for Japanese tastes. The result was gyunabe (牛鍋), a beef hot pot.

1862: The First Gyunabe Shop, Split in Half

According to the Ministry of Agriculture's regional cuisine database, in 1862 the owner of a Yokohama izakaya took a hint from the beef dishes eaten in the foreign settlement and opened the first gyunabe shop. Many people still recoiled at beef, and the owner's wife reportedly objected strongly. So he partitioned the shop, running one half as an izakaya and the other as a gyunabe shop. Seasoning the unfamiliar meat to Japanese tastes made it a hit, and the place eventually became a gyunabe specialist. There is also a record of a raw-silk merchant serving gyunabe at a restaurant that same year, so sources differ slightly on who was first. Other gyunabe shops soon opened nearby.

"If You Don't Eat Gyunabe, You're Not Civilized"

In the Meiji era beef became a symbol of bunmei kaika, Japan's drive to modernize along Western lines. In 1868 a slaughterhouse for foreigners opened in Shiba, Tokyo, and gyunabe shops spread to the capital. In 1870 the thinker Fukuzawa Yukichi wrote an essay urging people to eat beef and drink milk, and in 1872 newspapers reported that Emperor Meiji had tasted beef, which helped meat eating catch on. The mood is captured in Aguranabe, a comic novel written in 1871 by Kanagaki Robun. It records the chatter of all sorts of customers in a gyunabe shop and even declares that anyone who does not eat gyunabe is "not civilized." A pot of beef was proof that you had joined the new age.

How Is It Different From Sukiyaki?

Gyunabe looks a lot like sukiyaki. The Ministry of Agriculture explains the difference this way: in sukiyaki the beef is seared first and then simmered, while in gyunabe everything goes into the seasoned broth from the start. Early gyunabe was mostly simmered in miso, which masked the smell of the beef, and soy sauce reportedly took over around 1874. Even today each shop has its own style, with thin slices or chunky cubes and a soy or miso base. Some places still keep a style close to the miso pot of cubed beef said to have been common in early Meiji Yokohama. You eat it just like sukiyaki: dip the cooked beef, green onion, tofu and shungiku greens into beaten raw egg.

Eating Gyunabe in Yokohama Today

Several gyunabe restaurants founded in the Meiji era are still in business in Yokohama. Most are in Naka Ward around Kannai and Isezakicho, so they pair well with a walk through the port-era streets. Some still cook the old way, with miso and green onion in a shallow iron pan over a charcoal brazier. Today gyunabe has an upscale image, and Japanese people often eat it for celebrations or family gatherings. Prices are not low, so check the budget in advance and book ahead for dinner. For Yokohama residents, gyunabe is also a point of pride, a dish that started in their city and spread across Japan. Local elementary schools reportedly serve a sukiyaki-style stew based on gyunabe for lunch every January.

#Gyunabe#Sukiyaki#Meiji era#Yokohama#Kanagawa local food