Eighth International Conference on Food Studies

Abstract

In the past several years, within the context of the global food trade and international agreements on agriculture, the Japanese government has performed a nearly wholesale shift in its policies toward rice growers and farmers. These changes, though protested by both farmers and consumers are likely to open Japanese agriculture to increasing corporate ownership and genetically modified foods. Alongside these policies changes, the Japanese diet or washoku has been included on the list of Intangible World Cultural Heritages and the Japanese government is formulating a policy response that puts rice at the core of the Japanese diet in its nutrition and trade policy. This paper presents research on these current policy changes from the perspectives of rice farmers and consumers organizations that was conducted in Japan by the author.