Effects of Globalization on Japanese Food Culture and Healthby Cherise Fuselier “Japan Today”spring quarter 2006Dr. Harumi MoruzziFinal Draft

Effects of Globalization on Japanese Food Culture and Health

IntroductionIn this paper I will attempt to describe the changing Japanese diet as aresult of the effects of globalization. I will discuss several Japanese staples of past and modern times. These include rice, millet,

soba

and

udon

noodles,seafood, cattle, and soybeans. Their origins, past applications, and modernplace in the Japanese diet will be examined. Delving deeper into Japanesecuisine, I will discuss Japanese food aesthetics and the impact of selectedimported and fast foods.Finally, I will end with current diet and health statistics and drawconclusions from these and previous discussed topics to theorize the future of Japanese health based on their Westernizing diet. I hypothesize that due to theadverse consequences of globalization on the changing Japanese diet, Japan’spopulation will experience increased instances of nutrition-related healthproblems.GrainsRice is certainly among the first foods one thinks of within Japanesecuisine. The Japanese word for cooked rice-

gohan

- means “meal”, and indeedrice has long been the main staple of the Japanese diet. In the year 2000, Asiawas responsible for 95 percent of global rice cultivation and consumption, with

East Asia alone consuming 35 of that 95 percent (Cambridge World History of Food 133).Rice cultivation was introduced from China and is debated to have startedbetween the third century B.C. and the late Jomon era (1,000 B.C.) (139). Ricecould not be cultivated in certain areas of Japan because of unsuitable climatesuntil the Meiji era (1868-1912) when modern technology was implemented tocombat this problem. In the southern regions of Japan where rice cultivation wasnot possible pre-Meiji era, the more common staples of the diet were sweetpotatoes, wheat, varieties of taro and radish, and millet (Naorai 11).Where rice cultivation was impossible due to climate in the pre-Meiji era,millet was a much more common staple. Japanese millet (

Echinochloa crus-galli

) is a type of temperate grass with a little known history. While once grown inmild European climates, today

E. crus-galli

is only grown as a cereal grain inChina, Korea, and Japan.Millet was once consumed instead of rice by peasants living in climateswhere rice productivity was low. However, due to more modern rice cultivationtechniques, millet is no longer the common staple it once was. Nor is it still amark of poor class status, although old prejudices about this may continue. Milletis more nutritious than that of white rice, and can be cultivated more easily. Milletgrains are hardier than that of rice, and can grow more efficiently in harsher conditions. In the 2004 article “Japan: Cooking a New World”, KobayashiKazunori argues for the frequent use of millet rather than rice.