Will organic sake intoxicate consumers? Procurements of rice as bottlenecks and comparative procurement strategies by four brewers in Japan

Ryo Kohsaka 한국식품연구원 2020 Journal of Ethnic Foods Vol.7 No.-

This study reviews the status of current organic sake and procurement strategies of organic rice by four brewers in Japan. Despite overall declining trends in shrinking domestic markets, sake categorized in the premium segment has been increasing in trading volumes and indicated resilience in prices. This study first reviewed and analyzed the overall status of sake, trends in premium segment, and challenges for organic sake. Unlike wine, organic sake occupies a minor position in the segment. This was followed by the comparative analysis of procurement strategies of organic rice for four sake breweries in Japan. The strategies were contrasting; three breweries indicated strong “local” bonding while one procured organic rice outside of the region, resulting in different product strategies. At its initiation, all four breweries showed the interests in local agriculture and gained rice locally. Then, availability and affordable price became a bottleneck. Implications of these challenges are further analyzed from exporting perspectives as well.

Ethnic foods in transitions: transdisciplinary analytical frameworks to tradition and renovations in Japan

Ryo Kohsaka,Yoichiro Sato 한국식품연구원 2017 Journal of Ethnic Foods Vol.4 No.2

Beekeeping and honey production in Japan and South Korea: past and present

Ryo Kohsaka,박미선,Yuta Uchiyama 한국식품연구원 2017 Journal of Ethnic Foods Vol.4 No.2

Background Bee honey is a main ingredient in traditional food culture in different regions of the world. Honey is widely utilized as an ethnic food item. Methods This paper analyzes the historical and present status of beekeeping and honey production in Japan and South Korea based on the relevant literature and statistical data. Results The findings reveal that Western honeybees are dominant in the two countries for economic and physical reasons. Honey production has declined and the amount of imported honey has increased in Japan and South Korea. The domestic and global honey markets closely influence reciprocally. Furthermore, urban beekeeping has emerged in these two countries as a hobby and an industry; it contributes to producing domestic honey and enhances the quality of the environment. Conclusion To ensure sustainable forestry and conserve biodiversity, native beekeeping is necessary. This paper provides insight into beekeeping and honey production in Japan and South Korea.

The myth of washoku: a twisted discourse on the “uniqueness” of national food heritages

Ryo Kohsaka 한국식품연구원 2017 Journal of Ethnic Foods Vol.4 No.2

In 2013, Japan and Korea celebrated their first food culture registrations with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This paper first reviews the overall situation regarding washoku. Then, the washoku concept is analyzed and we argue that the idea is ambiguous. The washoku concept is contested and not necessarily clearly defined, but certain characteristics exist. The “uniqueness” is emphasized in the UNESCO registration while the reasoning or storyline for applications, such as relationships to nature, traditional preparations, community cohesion are “common” with other applications. The context of registration is frequently misinterpreted, and washoku has certain elements that are responsive to changes, despite its authentic and unchanged popular image. The ambiguity has both positive and negative aspects. It functions as a framework to enable groups with different interests or interpretations to participate in the process.

Capturing the relationships between local foods and residents: A case in the Noto region, Japan

Ryo Kohsaka,Hikaru Matsuoka,Yuta Uchiyama 한국식품연구원 2016 Journal of Ethnic Foods Vol.3 No.2

Background: Under the influence of global trends, most regions are at risk of losing their local-food knowledge. In this context, analyzing the transmission of the knowledge, understanding the context of transmission, and implementing precise activities and policies are required. Noto is known for its unique ethnic fermented food products. Methods: Through our questionnaire survey and analysis of the Noto peninsula, we explore the relationships between the attributes of local food producers and the variety of foods they produce, attempting to identify the key attributes related to making diverse local foods and the transmission of local food knowledge. Results: Our analysis showed a correlation between the diversity of local foods made by residents and the number of years they had lived in the municipality. Conclusion: The results implied that adequate management of social networks by local residents, who depend on the local environment, is required in transmitting the knowledge of local foods.

Use of the Forest Environment Transfer Tax for forest data developmentand exchange: evidence from all 47 prefectures in Japan

Ryo Kohsaka,Yuta Uchiyama 한국산림과학회 2022 Forest Science And Technology Vol.18 No.4

To facilitate forest management as part of climate change mitigation and adaptation, theForest Environment Transfer Tax (FETT) was introduced in Japan in 2019, representing aform of payment for ecosystem services. In this study, we focused on the introduction ofthe tax and the status of its use based on an analysis covering Japan’s 47 prefectures. Thisinvolved reviewing policy processes related to FETT and conducting a survey among rele-vant prefectural officers to identify how FETT is being used, with a focus on plans, policies,and systems related to forest data development and exchanges. The proportions of bothtotal and FETT budgets used for forest data development were significant. Several prefec-tures are improving forest-related data in a two-way manner by coordinating with munici-palities. Correlation analysis revealed that prefectures with greater proportions of privatelyowned forests allocated more budget to forest data development, which is in line with theFETT’s intended purpose. This result suggests that the absolute size of such forestlands isless important, but that the proportion of privately owned forests carries political and socialweight that could be a critical factor in budget allocation.

From hoes to story-telling as “Weapons of the Weak”: farmers’ resistance to neoliberal 2007 Multi-Product Management Stabilization Plan in Japan

Yoshitaka Miyake,Ryo Kohsaka 한국식품연구원 2020 Journal of Ethnic Foods Vol.7 No.-

While neoliberalism has promoted free trade, market rule, and productivist agriculture in the food production system, farmers and their unions in developed countries partially managed to shun the forces of neoliberalism. What are the underpinning strength and factors of such resilience? Discussions have concentrated at national policy and organizational level and tacit resistance at community and farm levels remain unexplored, inter alia from their historical embeddedness perspective. This study explores the way Japanese farmers frame their contemporary political situation with neoliberalism of the late 2000s with a grounded approach of face-to-face interview at a community level. The farmers resist it mobilizing Scott’s anthropological notion of “Weapons of the Weak” through story-telling instead of hoes in ancient time (Scott JC, Weapons of the weak: everyday forms of peasant resistance, 1985). In concrete, the farmers resisted a neoliberal policy of Hinmoku Ōdanteki Keiei Antei Taisaku, or the MultiProduct Management Stabilization Plan (MPP), in the early 2000s, which promoted larger scale farming to pursue the efficiency of scale merits. The policy was first introduced in 2005 as a concept and dominated the agricultural policy scenes from 2007 to 2009, and then its influence disappeared toward 2010. The rise and fall of the concept and policy provide us with rare opportunity to examine the historical embeddedness of the farmers and their resistance to such neoliberal globalization. We conducted interviews with the leaders of cooperative farms and stakeholders in Daisen City, Akita Prefecture, Japan; the study found that farmers’ framing of neoliberalism was ambivalent causing partial adoption and resistance. The leaders of the cooperative farms could form the cooperative farms but thought further development difficult because members intended to keep their farming independent. Close frame and discourse analysis revealed that farmers in Japan could express their frustration on neoliberal discourse and policy through multiple tactics of “Weapons of the Weak” by complaining to the leaders, miscalculating the figures, or claiming family-based food sovereignty that “we produce what goes into our family mouths.” Such tactics procrastinated the process and eventually stopped the policy. The incident demonstrates how farmers in the network can slow the progress of neoliberal discourse and policy implementation. From the analysis, the notion of “Weapons of the Weak” can be applied as a part of the combination with farmers’ historical embeddedness, symbolism of foods, framing, and electoral resistance.

Japanese sake and evolution of technology: A comparative view with wine and its implications for regional branding and tourism

Jun Sato,Ryo Kohsaka 한국식품연구원 2017 Journal of Ethnic Foods Vol.4 No.2

Background The flavor of Japanese sake (frequently referred to as Seisyu in Japanese academic contexts) has improved in recent years and demand for sake is on the rise globally. Methods Our analysis is based on a review of literature and secondary data examination of existing statistics. Results Quality control is achieved through the use of acid from polished rice. One use for acid may be for rice flavors, which are regionally specific and therefore may lead to a reconsideration of geographical indications. Conclusion The use of acid and collaboration with the local and regional community is observed in wine production. Similar processes are observed with Japanese sake, and this implies that wine and sake may have similar futures. Visits to sake breweries have potential in the spheres of tourism, regional branding, and destination management.

History, ethnicity, and policy analysis of organic farming in Japan: when “nature” was detached from organic

Yoshitaka Miyake,Ryo Kohsaka 한국식품연구원 2020 Journal of Ethnic Foods Vol.7 No.-

The ratio of organic farming in Japan stagnated in terms of area and involved farmers despite the richness in history symbolized in terms such as the Fukuoka methods or the more recent Teikei. This paper first reviews the historical development of Japan’s organic agriculture from the 1930s (first epoch), regarding Japanese ethnicity and its roots and relationships to nature. Based on this analysis, we critically evaluate policy development from the 1990s (second epoch). Here, we provide potential explanation for the low ratio of organic agriculture in Japan. By combing the conceptual analysis of ethnicity and organic movements, the underpinning factors that underlie the development of organic farming are analyzed both from historical and cultural contexts. Natural farming is a separate individual practice in Japan, with its own philosophical backgrounds. This initial 1930s terminology of “natural farming” or shizen nōhō (自然農法) was translated into yūki nōgyō (有機農業) in the 1970s. This review claims that the meaning of organic agriculture got too narrow to promote organic agriculture with the governmental intervention and standardization from the 1990s. The initial phase of yūki nōgyō also had such a problem as the concept became increasingly institutionalized through government standardization and policy from the 1990s. Currently, at the conceptual level, the linkage to nature, i.e., “shizen,” is confined into “non-use of chemical components” through formal institutionalization, and the ethnic elements or philosophical and historical roots are neglected. Similar phenomena of “commodification of organic farming” are widely known in matured markets in the USA and Europe, but the discrepancy of “nature” and “organic” agriculture is particularly also observed in contemporary Japan.

Public recognition of traditional vegetables at the municipal level: Implications for transgenerational knowledge transmission

Yuta Uchiyama,Hikaru Matsuoka,Ryo Kohsaka 한국식품연구원 2017 Journal of Ethnic Foods Vol.4 No.2