Shogo Omura
Japanese Agriculture Practice College
Human history has been a long struggle of liberation from hunger, whereas the endless pursuit of gastronomy has become prominent in the modern century. Economic growth has provided for new food technology and systems. As a result, the middle-class and a wide range of citizens have been able to enjoy new food cultures. On the other hand, since the 1980s, industrialized countries have experienced an imbalance of satiation and nutritional issues have become a serious social problem. As a result, the morbidity from lifestyle-related diseases has increased.
Since the Middle Ages, many countries have been formed, each with their own respective characteristic food culture; in particular, countries belonging to the Asian monsoon climate area where food-culture is closely related to events of seasonal farming, folklore, and religion. Asian food-culture shares characteristics related to vegetation, rice farming, water management and Buddhism. Most noteworthy is New Year’s cuisine as the origin of traditional foods. Since 1970, Japan food style has been changing and diversifying, and traditional food culture has become more fragile as people have become less interested in traditional food culture.
(Presented in the 2012 Asian Food Heritage Forum: Harmonizing Culture , Technology and Industry, 20-21 August 2012, Imperial Queen’s Park Hotel, Bangkok, organized by Institute of Thai Studies, Institute of Asian Studies, Faculty of Fine and Applied Arts, Chulalongkorn University, Chinese Dietary Culture Institute, Zhejiang Gongshang University, and Ministry of Culture, Thailand)