when east meats west..

In My Year of Meats, a common theme that carries throughout the novel would be the collision of the traditional, eastern ways of Japan, and the novelty of the new, western American ideals and the irony that is seen from the outcomes. The main focus of my argument results from the relationship between John and Akiko Ueno. Through John’s insistent and abusive nature towards Akiko to better become a mother and better wife through emulation of American wives and ideals, he ultimately hurts his chances of becoming a father and having the perfect wife, because of his persistent need to become “American”.

The idea of John’s show, “My American Wife!,” was to due to Akiko’s inability to produce eggs and therefore her inability to produce babies. John felt that if he got Akiko to follow recipes and make the meals, consisted of mainly beef and other meats (the American way), it would “put meat on her bones” and make her fertile. This beef consumption was colliding with the Japanese diet of mainly rice, vegetables, and seafood. John felt that the Japanese diet wasn’t working, due to the fact that they were childless, and wanted to follow the American diet in hopes of Akiko becoming fertile like the Texan women he so longed for with large breasts and childbearing hips. Ultimately, as the book unfolds, we find that the American beef that John thought was going to help him have children caused Akiko to vomit and come a lot unhealthier, which hindered her ability to produce eggs. Also, with the presence of DES and other drugs, it would caused the sperm count of men to decrease, and his constant consumption of it also helped leave him childless.

John also had hopes that his show would turn Akiko into the American wife that we desired. The typical Japanese wife was submissive, quite, and supportive; all the things that Akiko was. But Akiko’s weekly viewing of My American Wife!, which John insisted abusively, caused Akiko to lose her traditional, Eastern ideals of how life should be and how a wife should behave, to adopt the ideals of what a western, American wife should be, with the freedom of choice, happiness, and equality. John’s hopes of having an American wife, ironically, became true when Akiko left him and moved to America in hopes of a better life for her and her daughter.

Ultimately, John’s need to become “American” which counteracted with what John wanted. His views that the traditional, Japanese ways were inferior to the novel, idealized, American ways hurt him. When East MEATS west (I know the correct verb tense would be MET, but there would be no pun), the west won, like John wanted, but it left him wifeless and childless.