Reflection on Food Culture and the Formation of Food Nationalism in 1970s Japan

This study analyzes the formation process of food nationalism in 1970s Japanese society through an examination of the complex crises Japan experienced during this period and the cultural responses these challenges engendered. Particular attention is directed toward two sociocultural phenomena that previous scholarship has insufficiently addressed: the Ancient Diet Movement and everyday food discourse. Japan confronted two significant crises during the 1970s. The first was a “food security crisis” precipitated by the global food crisis of the early 1970s. This crisis compelled Japan, with its low food self-sufficiency ratio, to recognize that food selection and consumption were intrinsically linked to national survival. The second was a “cultural crisis” resulting from the rapid proliferation of Western dietary practices, wherein the dissolution of traditional food habits was equated with the disintegration of the national community. These perceptions of crisis catalyzed a reassessment of “Japanese food culture.” The Ancient Diet Movement emerged as a social phenomenon within this context. This movement advocated a return to an ancient, plant-centered diet, seeking to “purify” the bodies and minds of Japanese people “contaminated” by modern life. This study interprets the movement as a cultural practice aimed at restoring national purity in response to “cultural invasion.” The everyday food discourse represented a cultural phenomenon that challenged conventional notions of “Japanese cuisine.” This discourse criticized the existing concept of Japanese cuisine centered on ceremonial and banquet dishes and argued that the essence of Japanese cuisine resided in ordinary home cooking and common people’s food. Beyond academic discourse, this perspective merged with social phenomena such as the “mother’s taste” boom, propagating the understanding that food culture constituted a cultural asset worthy of preservation.