Feeding Japan The Cultural and Political Issues of Dependency and Risk [Hardcover]

This edited collection explores the historical dimensions, cultural practices, socio-economic mechanisms and political agendas that shape the notion of a national cuisine inside and outside of Japan. Japanese food is often perceived as pure, natural, healthy and timeless, and these words not only fuel a hype surrounding Japanese food and lifestyle worldwide, but also a domestic retro-movement that finds health and authenticity in traditional ingredients, dishes and foodways. The authors in this volume bring together research from the fields of history, cultural and religious studies, food studies as well as political science and international relations, and aim to shed light on relevant aspects of culinary nationalism in Japan while unearthing the underlying patterns and processes in the construction of food identities.

Introduction: Reconsidering Japanese food; Andreas Niehaus and Tine Walravens.- Part I: Inventing Japanese Food Identities.- 2.They should be called gluttons and be despised: Food, Body and Ideology in Kaibara Ekikens YMjMkun (1713); Andreas Niehaus.- 3. Sweets Reimagined: The Construction of Confectionary Identities, 1890-1930; Mitsuda TatsuyaFor Gluttons, Not Housewives: Japans First Gourmet Magazine, KuidMraku; Eric Rath.- 4. Global Recognition and Domestic Containment: Culinary Soft Power in Japan; Stephanie Assmann.- Part II: Feeding the Nation: Japanese Food Identities in Times of Globalization.- 5. Deconstructing Kokushu: The Promotion of Sake as Japans National Alcohol Drink in Times of Crisis in the Sake Industry; Dick Stegewerns.- 6. The Drink of the Nation? Coffee in Japan's Culinary Culture; Helena Grinshpun.- 7. Forging Ahead with Bread: Nationalism, Networks and Narratives of Progress and Modernity in Japan Sheng Annie.- 8. Joining the Global Win