ABSTRACT
This chapter describes how food, beverages, and tobacco proved their entertainment value to commoners in the early modern period as the focal point of struggles ranging from eating and drinking contests to fantasy battles in which brands of sake fought different sweets or blends of tobacco. The foodstuffs, drinks, and drugs depicted in the writings about various gustatory competitions described in this chapter are all quintessentially early modern. Collectively the evidence of gustatory competitions suggests a level of fun to be had with food, drink, and tobacco, one that rivals the prominence of these goods in modern Japanese culture. In other words, fun with food in Japan was constructed as a male pleasure. Kobayashi's achievements might seem an aberration to Japanese food culture, famous for its small servings-particularly at sushi restaurants-but he would have faced some tough challengers in early modern Japan.
