Abstract

Japan is an island nation made up of 75% mountainous regions. When we think of traditional Japanese food, our minds are drawn to the culinary styles of Kyoto with its elegant ryōtei restaurants and kaiseki cuisine. Yet within the mountain ranges a bit further to the north are communities who face the long, cold winters with heartier, wilder food made at home. The need for prolonged storage resulted in a long history of eating fermented foods, and the proximity to nature has nurtured a lasting tradition of wild herb and insect consumption. In Nagano prefecture, where the intake of salt in preserved foods had led them to being the population with the shortest lifespan in all of Japan, recent food education and eat-local promotions have helped them to weather the difficulties of the current year with more success than their urban counterparts. Through my focus on the eating habits of this area, I explore both the pros and cons of such a lifestyle and what we can learn from it in the Post-COVID era.

Presenters

Aiko Tanaka
Founder, Japan Food Studies College, Japan Food Studies Research Institute (FSRI), Food Activist Organization Japan, Planetary Food Education Network, Japan

Details

Presentation Type

Paper Presentation in a Themed Session

Theme

2020 Special Focus—Making The Local: Place, Authenticity, Sustainability

KEYWORDS

Fermentation, Entomophagy, Sustainability, Japan

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