Nationalism, Patriarchy, and Moralism: The Government-Led Food Reform in Contemporary Japan

• Published in: Food & foodways Vol. 19; no. 3; pp. 201 - 227
• Main Author: Kimura, Aya Hirata
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chur Taylor & Francis Group 01-07-2011; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Agrofood industry; Food policy; food safety; Food security; Food supply; Governmental reform; monitoring; Morality; Nationalism; Neoliberalism; Patriarchy; Public health; public safety; Reform; women; Japan
• ISSN: 1542-3484; 0740-9710; 1542-3484
• DOI: 10.1080/07409710.2011.599778

Government-led food reforms are increasingly prevalent and they are often seen as a welcome corrective to the neoliberalization of the agrofood system. Yet Japanese government's food reform initiatives demonstrates that government food reform does not necessarily increase oversight and regulation or address fundamental problems of the food system. Although the official goals of reform are food safety and public health, the Japanese government juxtaposes food reform with notions of the “traditional family” and women's domestic roles as well as with the nationalistic idealization of “Japanese food” and national branding. The strategy of responsibilization, where the government constructs the food problem as an individual problem rooted in insufficient awareness and irresponsible behaviors is salient. Government food reform needs active monitoring by citizens to resist such pressure to construct food reform as a matter of moral and personal betterment.