© Stephanie Assmann
Shaping Responsible Citizens and Addressing Population Decline: Food Governance in Japan
Dr. Stephanie Assmann (University of Hyogo)
Japan demonstrates strong health outcomes, including high life expectancy, low obesity rates, and accessible health care. In 2005, the Japanese government introduced the Fundamental Law of Food Education (Shokuiku Law) to further improve nutritional health. The law mandates food preparation and culinary heritage education for children through school lunch programs and cooking classes, while adults receive nutritional guidance via the Food Guide Spinning Top, a food diagram.
Based on the findings presented in a recent book publication, this presentation first examines Japan's food education law as a model of food governance designed to cultivate ‘responsible citizens’ who manage their nutrition. Second, utilizing Clifford Geertz's concept of 'thick description,' it analyzes the implementation of the Shokuiku Law in a declining rural area of Kyushu, where food education serves as a strategy to promote intergenerational engagement and address demographic decline.
Stephanie Assmann’s research interests are foodways and culinary politics, life in rural Japan, and employment and diversity. She is the author of Food Education and Rural Resilience in Japan. Nourishing National Identity (University of Amsterdam Press, 2025), co-editor of Japanese Foodways, Past and Present (with Eric C. Rath, 2010, University of Illinois Press), and editor of Sustainability in Contemporary Rural Japan: Challenges and Opportunities (2016, Routledge).
The lecture will take place online. You will receive the Zoom link shortly