You're listening to season nine of Mobile Suit Breakdown, a weekly podcast covering the entirety of Sci-fi mega franchise Mobile Suit Gundam, researching its influences, examining its themes, and discussing how each piece of the Gundam canon fits within the changing context in Japan and the world from 1979 to today. You.
This is episode nine point ten. Goodbye, Summer, and we are your hosts. I'm Tom, Gundam fan, and from war crimes to tasty snacks, MSB is always ready to cover the full range of human experience.
And I'm Nina, and thanks to this week's research, I am now aware of the Republic of Ezul. So I'm hoping that it will be relevant to some future Gundam show and I will have a reason to research it. Mobile Suit Breakdown is made possible by 719 paying subscribers. Thank you all for keeping us genki, and special thanks to our newest patrons jebasaurus Met C and a terrible creature whose name I'd rather not invoke, but we are grateful for its patronage nevertheless.
This podcast would not exist without your support. We recently marked the five year anniversary of our very first episode, and if it weren't for all the support that we've received so far from all of you, financial and otherwise, we never would have made it this far. So thank you all so much. And just as we do every year, we will soon be sending out our annual limited edition pins as thank you gifts to eligible patrons. The pins for year five have already arrived. The process went somewhat smoother than last year, and I can tell you that they look great. We are going to be posting pictures on Patreon and on our social media soon, so keep your eyes peeled for those. There will be a few differences this year in terms of who is eligible. Unfortunately, due to rising costs at every stage of the process, the eligibility requirements are going to be somewhat stricter. But if you are a legacy fraubo to your patron, have no fear, you are still eligible, just as we promised last year. In happier news, there might be a few extra bonus gifts going out to certain patrons this year. A special little something to celebrate five years and thank the people who have made it possible. So stay tuned in future episodes for more details about that, or just go to our patreon and sign up. You can sign up just to follow it without actually becoming a patron if you want further updates about these gifts. And now, Nina's research on the history of Kakigori, the shaved ice dessert that featured in St. Gundam Mark II part Three.
The history of making ice based desserts for refreshment in the summer dates back to at least the fourth century, when wealthy Romans purchased ice transported from the mountaintops down to their villas. The Japanese version is called Kakigori and nowadays consists of shaved ice, often described as having a fine, fluffy texture like freshly fallen snow. This ice is then topped with flavored syrups and modern. More elaborate versions include things like fresh or canned fruit, condensed milk, whipped cream or ice cream, sweet red beans, agar, jellies and other sweets. The name comes from the verb kakeru, which means to chip or break off, and the word for ice cori. While there is a kanji for kakeru, it isn't used because it has a number of negative connotations. It can also mean to lack, to be missing, to become lost, or to be deficient. This is why, when you see kakigori written out, the kaki part is written in hiragana, though the kanji for ice is still used. Seishonagon's the Pillow Book, a collection of poems, anecdotes and musings about Hayon period court life begun in the completed in 1002, contains the earliest known mention of kakigori. In this early incarnation, the ice was shaved by hand with a knife, and the toppings were things like crushed fruit and syrups made from the sweet SAP of kutzu, hydrangea and ivy. You may remember from my earlier research on kompeito that both honey and sugar were rarities in Japanese cuisine at this time. Ice would also have been a rare commodity, then extracted from mountain streams or partially frozen lakes, and then carefully stored until summer. The storage facilities were called himuro, the Japanese term for an ice house, and the management of the Imperial Court's ice houses was such an important task, there was an official court post and hereditary title attached to it Muraji, which means something like Ice Housekeeper. The oldest record of this title is actually from the Nihon Shoki, written circa 720 Ce. The simplest ice storage uses a hole dug in the ground packed with ice and either straw or sawdust, then covered, or uses small structures deep in mountain caves. But both of these methods work best in regions that already have cooler temperatures in the northern parts of Japan or at higher altitudes, freestanding thatched structures could also be used, though these too were usually dug into the ground to take advantage of the natural cooling and evaporation this provides. If you've never dug a deep hole in the summertime, I can tell you that in many regions even the summer sun doesn't warm the soil very deep, and a hole in the earth can fairly radiate cold, helped by the damp. This is also the principle behind root cellars, which are dirt floor basements used to store produce without refrigeration. Ice consumption, or at least records thereof, seems to have decreased during the Kamakura and Muromachi periods. It's likely that the regions capable of storing ice for use in summer kept doing so, but that without a strong centralized government there wasn't much incentive to transport the ice long distances. However, with the formation of the shogunate, this changed once again during the Edo period, ice was once more brought from ice producing regions to the capital, and the Kaga clan in particular used to present snow and ice to the shogun on the first day of the 6th lunar month. Every year. This would fall around the beginning of July. In our current calendar, snow and ice, still a rare luxury, were also used as offerings at some shrines, and there were a number of festivals related to ice and ice houses. It wasn't until the late 18 hundreds that ice harvesting and transport became even a little commercially viable, paving the way for kakigori to become a mainstream dessert rather than a luxury for aristocrats. During the Meiji period, one of the main types of ice available was so called Boston ice, which is more or less what it sounds like ice harvested from northeastern North America and shipped through Boston. But this ice took more than six months to arrive in Japan, meaning that it was still expensive, if less so, and of poor quality. The big breakthrough in Japan's domestic commercial ice industry is generally attributed to Nakagawa Kahe, a quote renowned food merchant of his day. Nakagawa saw Japan opening up to Western visitors and influence and saw an opportunity he opened what, if I understood correctly, was Japan's first dairy, mainly catering to foreigners. He also had businesses selling bread and beef, two more foods that just were not widely consumed in Japan at that time. It was because of these businesses that he became interested in commercial ice production. Milk and meat are both products that need to be kept chilled to maintain their quality and prevent spoilage. Another reason was that an American doctor and missionary he was on friendly terms with had told him that ice was useful for some medical treatments. Sidebar that the American in question was none other than doctor and missionary James Curtis Hepburn. Yes, that Hepburn, the one who invented the now predominant system for writing Japanese with the Roman alphabet and the founder of Meiji Gakuin University. Nankagawa's first attempt at transporting ice in 1861 was pretty disastrous. 100 tons of ice were collected from a purpose built pond at the foot of Mount Fuji, cut into 2000 blocks and packed in crates full of sawdust. These crates were then transported by horse cart to the port in Shizuoka, then by boat to Yokohama. By the end of the journey, only eight tons of ice remained.
How many tons of ice did they start with?
100.
Carry the two.
Nakagawa's dairy had burnt down. He had sold his beef business and slaughterhouse, and he went on to have six failed ice businesses before he was able to make store, transport and sell ice profitably. But by the 1870s, his business was doing so well, he could export ice to China, Korea, Singapore and India. It's quite the turnaround in ten years.
Don't let your dreams be dreams. No matter how many times you fail, just keep going back up to that mountain and chipping away at that ice.
Another fun sidebar at one point he was making ice in the moat of Gorio Kaku, a star fort in Hakodate, a city in southern Hokaido. There are some conflicting dates and details when it comes to the opening of the first kakigori shop, but they all fall in about the 1860s. By 1897, mechanical ice making became mainstream, and in the early Shoa period, the invention of an ice shaving machine meant that ice for kakigori no longer had to be shaved by hand. Mind you, it wasn't that there had been no changes. Many shops, rather than shaving the ice with a knife, used a standing plane, like the kind used to shave bonito for flakes or the kind a carpenter uses. The machines that became widespread in the showa period also used a special plane. But an adjustable clamp holds the block of ice against it, and then a hand crank or later, a motor rotates the block so that it scrapes against the plane and the shaved ice is collected underneath. It is this kind of machine that made an appearance in that SD Gundam episode. An enemy mobile suit is pulled out of a frozen lake and Amaro takes the block of ice they are frozen in and shaves it into kakigori for a brief window. From the late Meiji period until the early Shoa period, there was even special glassware produced for serving kakigori called korikopu, literally ice cup. These were short stemmed, brightly colored and patterned cups or small bowls. Reminds me of how much very specific tableware exists, even if we don't use much of it anymore. Nowadays, kakigori is still a popular summer dessert served everywhere from restaurants and specialized cafes to festivals and even at home. Shops and festival stalls that serve kakegori often display a distinctive banner with the kanji for ice on it. But this banner didn't always mean icy treats served here. It evolved from Meiji era signage that was meant to indicate an establishment had passed its health and safety inspections put in place by the government to ensure that as the number of establishments making their own ice increased, the water used was sanitary. Two last fun tidbits as I was looking into ice houses in Japanese history, I learned that certain cities in northern Japan still store snow in the winter, then use it in lieu of refrigeration or air conditioning to provide cold storage for produce and cooling for data centers, warehouses and even residential or recreational facilities. The other is that, and I shouldn't be surprised by this there is a lot of thought and a lot of process that goes into making the ice itself. For instance, fancy ice is tempered before use. All this means is that it is allowed to warm up a little and to start melting in a refrigerator or at room temperature. This is supposed to get rid of any cloudiness in the ice so that it's sparkling and clear and to prevent the ice from cracking apart. Though this is more about ice being used in fancy cocktails the difference in temperature between the ice and the liquid can cause the ice to crack. And after all the technological developments humans have made and the marvel that is refrigeration of course, there is a recent trend for natural ice. Ice formed during winter by sufficiently low ambient temperatures. For commercial ice blocks, this takes around two months. Ice that is then cut and stored, covered with sawdust and kept in an unrefrigerated ice house, much as it would have been before the advent of machinemade ice. There are supposed to be a number of benefits to natural ice. For instance, one source said that slow frozen ice is harder and melts more slowly and so can be shaved particularly finely, allowing for kakigori that is even fluffier than normal. Another claimed that slow freezing over a long period and constant agitation of the freezing water quote prevents impurities and produces UltraClear slow melting ice. One waxed a bit poetic describing such ice as shimmering like a jewel. But not one source talked about what to do if there are DOMS in your ice.
Obviously you have to shave it. The Dom adds I'm gonna say minerals. Iron very healthy.
The latest trend in kakigori Minovsky particles.
The Gundam cafes have closed now, but I wonder if they used to serve like dom themed kakigori. They should have done.
Next time on episode nine point eleven.
Hello, Tom from the future here. Unfortunately I suffered an injury during the production of this episode that has made it very difficult to sit at the computer to research or edit the podcast. I'm okay and I'm recovering all right, but we're going to need to take next week off to give me more time to heal. But when we come back in two weeks, it will be with our translation of the first part of SD Gundam Matsuri, plus our analysis of the short. So I hope you're as excited for that as we are. Thanks for listening and take care of yourselves.
And until next week, stay genki folks.
Mobile Suit Breakdown is written, recorded and produced by us, Tom and Nina in scenic New York City within the ancestral and unceded land of the Lenape people and made possible by listeners like you. The opening track is Wasp by Misha Dioxen. The closing music is Long Way Home by Spinning Ratio. You can find links to the sources for our research, the music used in the episode, additional information about the Lenape people and more in the show notes and on our website Gundampodcast.com. You can get in touch with us on Twitter or Instagram at gundampodcast or by email to hosts@gundampodcast.com. And thank you for listening.
While there is Kanji for Kakeru.
Drop the bass.
Do you think I'm going to have to start that paragraph over or just that sentence?
Just the sentence, I think.
It's noon on a Sunday. What are people up to?
Church rave. Oh, I can't dance too much. My poor neck.
Yeah, please be careful. In this early incarnation, the ice was shaved by hand with a knife. Honestly, what the is going on? Yeah. Don't know.
I think just keep going.
All right.
Apologies if anyone hears the thump and bass beat in the background. We cannot control what the cars outside the studio are doing.
I mostly don't like it because I can feel it.
Oh, is it aggravating your migraine?
Not yet, but I'm worried it might. And a hole in the earth can fairly radiate cold. Honestly, this feels so cursed.
Yeah. I feel like the dog is angry at the car.
I'm sure the dog is angry at the car. I'm angry at the car. I'm also angry at the dog. I'm tired of reading the same sentence three times over.
A 20 minutes research piece that took 2 hours to record.
Because every other line, there's a siren or a car or a dog or yelling. People, y'all truly do not understand when I say every second line. I'm not kidding. I will read one line of my text, and then some noise will creep in. I'll have to stop. I'll have to redo something. I'm so tired. Honestly, like, what the I'm really now?
Yeah.
Like, this has gone on for way long enough.
Are the dogs just, like, out there barking? Are they inside barking?
Like, I think she might have left them tied on the fence for a moment while she went someplace else, and the fact that she wasn't, like, with them. And they bark at everything. They bark at other dogs. They bark at people.
But they've been going for, like, ten minutes.
Yeah, or more.