1. 1 The Well-Tempura'd Nation:

2. 2 Japan, television food shows, and cultural nationalism

3. 3 Todd Joseph Miles Holden Graduate School of International Cultural Studies (GSICS) Tohoku University Sendai, Japan By Todd Joseph Miles Holden Graduate School of International Cultural Studies (GSICS) Department of Multi-Cultural Societies Tohoku University Sendai, Japan

4. 4 Prepared for The 10th International Conference of EAJS Warsaw, Poland August 27-30, 2003

5. 5 RESEARCH PANEL 4: Food and Drink in Contemporary Japan

6. 6 I. Introduction In contemporary Japan, “Food Talk” is a unitary, organized, continuous, redundant stream of discourse Filtered through and delivered by the most widely-consumed medium of communication in JapanFiltered through and delivered by the most widely-consumed medium of communication in Japan

7. 7 Research Premise Food is not a trifling matter on Japanese television Aired year-round Positioned on every channel In every time period Throughout the broadcast day

8. 8 Methods In this paper I demonstrate this by reporting the results of a systematically-collected, qualitatively-analyzed sample of TV food programming. regularly scheduled TV shows news segments commercials

9. 9 Overview of Results: At their simplest, food shows work (both in isolation and as a unity) to: reproduce traditional Japanese cuisine and cultural moresreproduce traditional Japanese cuisine and cultural mores educating viewers about regional customs and historyeducating viewers about regional customs and history

10. Overview Unlike a country like America, which has no “national food”, Japan’s culinary culture is presented in an unending stream of television segments as one cloth. Ethnic and regional foods do not balkanize identity The ingredients, utensils, vernacular, and approaches are similar enough to create a collective cuisine

11. Overview In this way, and perhaps most saliently, food-talk engages nihonjinron -- the theory of the uniqueness of Japanese culture. Food talk is shown to be: insular, insular, exclusionary, exclusionary, reproductive, and, therefore reproductive, and, therefore serves as a powerful pull toward cultural nationalism. serves as a powerful pull toward cultural nationalism.

12. Overview Finally, despite its interior focus -- whether inadvertent or not -- food shows also serve as globalizers  They are a geo-cultural screen  working to differentiate indigenous from exogenous

13. 13 Overview: They teach viewers about the “peculiar” practices of far-away places and expose viewers to ideas, words, people and ways of life beyond borders ….

14. 14 Overview: Even if sometimes those “far- away” people are only Japanese in another city or prefecture in Japan

15. 15 Overview: In this way, then, food shows can assist in integrating outside influences and lifestyles into Japan

16. 16 Conclusions Taken together, food shows serve:  not only as a medium for reproducing Japanese society,  but as tool for decoding its deeper- most structure, as well.

17. 17 Conclusions As such, they can serve as a means for greater theorization about Japan In this talk I wish to focus specifically on the relationship between food talk, nationalism and identity.

18. II. Theoretical Dimensions: 5 Threads 1. Japanese Identity 2. Sociology of Culture 3. Representation/Signification 4. Social Reproduction 5. Mediated Identity

19. 19 1. Japanese Identity At the risk of oversimplification, contemporary Japanese identity can be seen said to have been problematized in terms of the following dialectic: Group model versus Myth of collectivism

20. 20 Debunking Groupishness “ The Japanese have rather developed, though different, concepts of privacy and the self … a close look at Japanese society will reveal healthy expressions of self-interest, non-conformity and the differentiation of one individual from another. ” -- Moeur and Sugimoto 1986: 210

21. Past Examples Holden (1994) Holden (1994): accessories such as buttons, pins, shoelaces and bows serve as “ discreet statements of difference for those wishing to be considered as discrete statements. ” McVeigh (2003) McVeigh (2003): cell phone use reveals extensive “ interiority ” and “ personalized individualization ” SMAP (2003) SMAP (2003): sekai ni hitotsu dake no hana  humans ought to be more like flowers;  recognize that there is no “ number one ” ;  the most we should claim is that we are “ only one ” (of a kind).

22. 22 TV Food Talk The major – if not the baseline – discourse in televised food talk is that of national group, of collective Japanese identity  With liberal amounts of individual- regarding discourse  especially in advertising.

23. 23 2. Sociology of Culture Raymond Williams Raymond Williams (1981:33-5): “ Any adequate sociology of culture must … be an historical sociology … Directed at the content of this paper, the claim goes that food culture must be seen within the larger socio-political, economic and ideational context, one spanning centuries.

24. 24 Sociology of Culture Raymond Williams Raymond Williams (1981:33-5): institutions formations Viewed in a macro-context, we must recognize “ on the one hand, the variable relations between ‘ cultural producers ’… and recognizable social institutions; on the other hand, the variable relations in which ‘ cultural producers ’ have been organized or have organized themselves, their formations.

25. 25 Sociology of Culture Where the institutional formation is television And TV programming is the “art” that its institutional components produce. The actors, hosts, guests, directors, camera men, creative consultants, market researchers, advertisers and a whole host of commodity producers (components) are the formation’s “artists”.

26. 26 3. Representation/Signification Hall Hall (1992): “ (Cultural Studies) has to analyze … the constitutive and political nature of representation, itself. ”

27. 27 Thus … in Media-Centered Studies of Culture  One must focus on how the visual and verbal representations construct their object  One must ask: What is the image purporting to represent? How does the image construct the thing it is purporting to represent? (From Hall, ibid.)

28. 28 Representation/Signification As the content of food discourse makes clear, visual and verbal representations can often be read as references to:  Nation  Group (such such as gender, age cohort, region or locality)  Self In short, the signs used and representations made in food programming often serves to further identity discourse.

29. 29 4. Social Reproduction “ Studies in all … audience research traditions make one key point: the media are powerful agencies of reinforcement. ” -- Curran (1996:149) The “ Agenda Setting Function ” of media: Holden (1995) Holden (1995):  media images are “directive”: they promote particular lifestyles and images while suppressing others  they are “selective”: they choose to depict particular attitudes rather than others, presenting them as all that viewers should value

30. 30 Construction / Reproduction selectivity In short, media ’ s “ selectivity ” is a form of social construction. directivity And media ’ s “ directivity ” operates as a motor for cultural reproduction.

31. Socialization, Social Construction, Cultural Reproduction Berger and Luckmann (1967):  An institutional world tends to present society members with an objectified external reality.  This “ objectivated social reality ” is internalized in the course of socialization;  It is then used to produce the conditions which will, in turn, reproduce that very same social reality.

32. 32 TV’s Social Reproduction Function Television is one such institution;  a central reproducer,  it nurtures and replenishes a societal member’s “cultural stock of knowledge”  it keeps particular images and ideas circulating throughout society

33. Media and Identity As Gauntlett (2002) says : “ The media disseminates a huge number of messages about identity and acceptable forms of self- expression, gender, sexuality, and lifestyle. ” nation nationalism  To this we could include nation and nationalism  (as we will see in the data to come)

34. 34 5. Mediated Identity It is out of the interaction between message distribution and audience processing that identity results I wish to speak here of a particular kind of identity formation, associated with media (in this case television).

35. Woodward: On Identity “ the interface between subjective positions and social and cultural situations (that) gives us an idea of who we are and of how we relate to others and to the world in which we live. ”

36. Hall: On Identity Identity is “ produced within specific historical and institutional sites within specific discursive formations and practices, by specific enunciative strategies. ” (1996:4)

37. 37 The Nexus Between Television and Identity Historically situated: its content treats activities past, and is sustained by practices present; An institutional site: communications are one of the major institutions tied to politics and economy (specifically) and society (more generally); Specific discursive formations : thematic concerns about nation, state, gender, development, class, capitalism, consumption, and the like.

38. 38 The Nexus Between Television and Identity Disseminating statements of affiliation (to “ classes ” such as nation, sub-group, and self); Marked by clear practices (genres of TV viewing, packaged using tropes of communication within the particular medium); Involving specific strategies (ways of communication that are unique not only to the medium but also to each identity-context or identification-group depicted and/or appealed to).

39. 39 The Compound Nature of Mediated Identity A construct that is both interactive (a la Woodward) and institutional (a la Hall)

40. 40 Space and Time Utilizing Williams and Hall, we can perceive identity discourse as transpiring both in space and time, where:  (in terms of space) identity is framed in terms of “ levels ” or zones by which people arrange themselves in “ social space ”  (in terms of time) there are historical stages which I call a country (and its people ’ s) “ globalization career ”

41. 41 Space = Levels We can distinguish between four zones toward which identity messages refer and at which they strike: trans-national trans-national national national group group individual individual

42. Time = “ Globalization Career ” inflowoutflow Such careers, though unique to every national/cultural context, share the characteristic of having stages of cultural, political, economic, social and ideational inflow and outflow. examples include: the current flow of athletes from Japan to soccer and baseball leagues in Europe and America

43. Globalization Career: Food As for food stages of import and export have helped mark certain stages in Japan’s globalization career.  Import: the introduction of Chinese culinary ideas – from noodles to dumplings during diplomatic and cultural exchange nearly a millennium ago -- and more recently the “ethnic boom” that attended the so-called “era of internationalization” in the 1980s.  Export: of sushi and the influence of Japanese aesthetics and ingredients such as shitake, tofu, miso, soy sauce and sake in western cooking during the epoch of “minimal cuisine”

44. Modeling Mediated Identity (1) significations (2) conveyed through representations of:  sameness  difference (3) brought into relief by references to:  self and/or  individual circumstance (4) and/or depictions of relationship(s) between:  individuals and/or groups (5) references to (socially constructed) group-based traits

45. 45 Mediated Identity: Institutional Site From this we can infer that institutions (such as commercial, information or entertainment media such as TV) play a prominent role in the construction and communication of identifications  In short, the mediations are ensconced in and disseminated via TV

46. 46 III. Food and Television Media In past work I have shown food appears in songs, TV dramas, ads, even sporting events like the World Cup

47. 47 Deeper Socio-cultural Themes historical practices professionalismpreparedness intelligenceorganizationcultural literacy westernizationaestheticsglo-calization consumptionpleasureJapanese uniqueness competitionstar culturegender sexualitycapitalismHealth/body

48. 48 Day 日月火水木金土 ShowRiori Banzai SMAP x SMAP Ninki mono de ikou Tonnerus no nama de daradara ikasette Douchi no ryori shiou Ryori no tetsujin Chyu- bo-desu yo Time6 p.m.10 p.m.8 p.m.9 p.m. 11 p.m. Theme Come to know stars through the foods they like Competition, Sexuality, Image mgt., Commercial- ization Leveling (of taste, ideas, and status) Emphasis on technique, craft, preparation, “ki” Competi- tion, Informat- ion, Cultural national- ism Competi- tion, Ingenuity, Skill, some national- ism Intimate glimpses of stars abetted by food preparat- ion A Sample Week of Food Discourse

49. To consider the social and cultural discourse that flows through food Food Out of Context

50. 50 Example: London Hearts In this show various segments appear in which dating activities occur. And invariably, such activities transpire in restaurants, pubs or coffee shops.

51. 51 Regular Programming Food Shows amount to 5% of the programming between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on any given day. “ Food with Guests ” and “ Cooking as Part of the Show ” average 2 hours each per day. By Comparison: News accounts for 15% of the broadcast day for all stations from 5 a.m. to Midnight These figures do not include the minutes in which food is introduced as a minor or inadvertent part of the show.

52. Food as a Recognized Viewing Category In TV Guide food is one of the handful of genres singled out for attention outside the simple daily timetable.  genre categories include: “Cinema”, “Music”, “Sports”, “Cooking” and “Animation” (respectively).  prima facie evidence that food holds a special prominence in the consciousness of Japanese TV viewers.  All five major networks (four private, one public) have at least one show listed; including dates, air times, as well as foods prepared

53. 53 Coded 1. Instruction 2. Shared with guests 3. Food as entertainment 4. Introduced during a non-cooking show 5. As an element of travel or discovery 6. Advertising.

54. 54 1. Instruction: 1. Instruction: Kaminuma Emiko no oshaberi k û king (Daily 1:05 – 1:15)

55. Instruction: Instruction: Kaminuma Emiko no oshaberi k û king (Daily 1:05 – 1:15) Teaches viewers how to cook a particular ingredient, in three styles: Japanese, Chinese and French/Italian. Imparts the idea that there are proper methods and forms to follow in cooking.

56. 2. Shared With Guests 2. Shared With Guests : Tunnerusu no minasan no okage deshita. ("Tunnels' because of everyone") [Thursdays 9:00] In this show, cooking is a regular “ corner ”. Two guests – usually one male and one female – seek to guess which of 4 prepared dishes includes one item that the other guest absolutely detests.

57. Tunnerusu no minasan no okage deshita There is more than a bit of sadism in this show as the guest is forced to continually eat something that turns his or her stomach--all the while smiling and pretending s/he loves it.  In many ways this suits the Japanese cultural value of gaman, of bearing up under intolerable conditions.

58. 58 3. Entertainment : Gotchi Batoru 3. Entertainment : Gotchi Batoru (Banquet Battle / [ I will] Treat [you] Battle) [Friday 7:00 p.m] Action: 1. a narrator describes the ingredients of the dish; 2. the audience views the chef preparing the dish; 3. the “ patrons ” (guests) discuss the food as they taste it and guess its price; 4. Advisories flash on the screen informing the audience whether a guess is close or far off; 5. The farthest off treats everyone else.

59. 59 4. During a Non-Cooking Show 4. During a Non-Cooking Show Merenge no kimochi (Feelings Like Meringue) [Saturday 12:00 p.m.]

60. Saturday 12:00 p.m. Merenge no kimochi (Feelings Like Meringue) Like many food shows, Meringue uses food as a vehicle for understanding another human being.  a star (author, comedian, singer, actor) The person (generally male) will be “ interviewed ” by 3 female hosts and then introduce the hosts and audience to a food that s/he likes to cook.

61. 5. During Travel/Discovery 5. During Travel/Discovery : Tabi no kaori toki no asobi (“ The Fragrance of Travel, Time of Playing ”) [Tuesdays 8:00 p.m.] 2 female and one male star take viewers on a tour of different places and show what can be eaten (and done) in those places.

62. During Travel/Discovery: Tabi no kaori toki no asobi (“ The Fragrance of Travel, Time of Playing ”) [Tuesdays 8:00 p.m.]  Food is recognized as an integral part of place;  It also serves to introduce people and practices of an area.

63. 6. Advertising (continuity Editing) Advertising plays an enormous role in placing food at the center of Japanese society

64. 64 Function of Ads  Used as a device to heighten tension or underscore the show ’ s major themes  Ads interrupt:  just before a judge ’ s decision (SMAPxSMAP, Douchi, Tetsujin)  when it is revealed whether the host can follow the correct procedure (Tonnerus)  before the delivery of the punchline to a story a guest is telling (Merengue)  prior to announcing which star correctly evaluated an item (Ninki mono).

65. 65 Ad Function  But ads are not departures from the world of food, as a large proportion of them are devoted to edible items.  In this way, they underscore food's intimate relationship to economy--a point that SMAPxSMAP and Meringue make with their tie-in goods and yearly recipe books offered for sale. A point underscored by shows which provide maps to and menus of the restaurants where the weekly chefs operate.

66. Food Ads on TV: some numerical data

67. Most Frequent Ad Categories (Collapsed)

68. Top Categories of Ads (Itemized)

70. 70 Qualitative as well as Quantitative Just in terms of numbers, then, advertising serves to reproduce food-culture in Japan However, qualitatively, as well, the content of food-ads works to emphasize themes that are most central to social structure and in social consciousness

71. Emphasis on secondary socio- cultural discourse. Embedded in this commercial discourse one finds deeper social themes such as health, diet, gender roles, sexuality, race, globalization, even death.

72. 72 Predominant themes include: * Gender Roles * Health * Sexuality * Diet * Sexism * Fitness * Body * Star-cult * Consumption * Identity * Nationalism

73. Gender Roles Food ads reinforce the message that women stay inside and cook while men go out and play

74. Gender Roles Or else that women wait at home for their husbands, who they happily greet at the end of the day with a warm meal

75. 75 Gender Roles Ads reinforce the idea that women are food shoppers And that that they set high standards for freshness which must be met in their kitchen

76. 76 Gender Roles Ads continually send us the message that women keep their families nourished, healthy and happy — even when they have moved away to college or work in another city.

77. 77 Sexuality Through food comes discourse about heterosexual intimacy

78. Sexuality And women as the objects of lesbian fantasy

79. 79 Sexuality So, too, physical contact and the expression of emotion are present in ad text

80. Sexuality Food also is the occasion to present men as desired subjects

81. Sexism And food ads are a medium through which women are continually partialized

82. Sexism In food ads, women are: ever objectified, taken advantage of, and put on display

83. 83 Body Part and parcel of this trend is the emphasis on bodies

84. Body Both for women And men

85. 85 Health Ads for energy drinks and antacids often focus on the difficult life of the salary-man Which, of course, also reproduces notions of gender roles

86. 86 IV. Analysis Food, Forms of Discourse, and Identity

87. 87 Ubiquity / Invisibility Well beyond the formal data  identified by coding TV Guides  content analyzing TV shows whose primary theme is “food”… Is the informal, invisible data that floods TV programming about food  food is present in an overwhelming number of shows—even those which have nothing to do with food.  Quiz shows  Sports  News  Travel  Late night talk shows

88. 88 3 Forms of Discourse 1. Dedicated 2. Inadvertent 3. Secondary

89. 89 Dedicated A form of discourse devoted exclusively – or at least primarily – to food. Food talk is foremost and overt

90. 90 Dedicated Discourse: Example Douchi no ryori shiou: (Which one? Cooking Show)

91. 91 Douchi!? (Which one!?) Situation Competition between rival foods to win the hearts of a panel of seven singers, actors, writers and athletes. Two hosts seek to sway the panel during the on-going in-studio food preparation. Food ’ s Position Center Stage Food ’ s Function Opens doors to world history and Japanese culture. Also serves as entertainment and competition, creates tension and teaches. Effect Educates about Japanese culture. However, one clear message is that Japanese food is distinct, special, irreplaceable, and generally unbeatable.

92. 92 Douchi!? (Which one!?) During these segments, the localities, regions or countries in which these key ingredients are grown, harvested or treated are detailed, along with the ways of life, histories and values of the residents. In this way, Dochi serves as medium for discourse about globalization

93. Inadvertent and Secondary Discourse These two forms are less food-oriented and, in fact, are more often not primarily focused on food.  They can arise in relation to any number of television genres  from news to sports to travel to quiz shows to wide shows to advertising  As well as contents  health, diet, fitness, body, sexuality, sexism, gender roles, consumption, race, globalization, identity, nationalism, and even life and death

94. 94 Inadvertent Discourse Involves discourse about things (such as hometown, traditions, gender, nation) that arise in clear connection to or as a result of the presence of food  However, food is not the primary focus of the program.  Most often the discourse about things is overt and, in all cases, their overt nature arises due to the appearance of food.

95. 95 Inadvertent Discourse: Example: "Sekai Fushigi Hakken (Discovering the Wonders of the World [Saturday, 9 p.m.] Food is among the “wonders” used to mediate globality: the cultural tastes and practices of other countries or regions are presented to people “at home” as distinct from (and often peculiar in comparison to) their own.

96. Typical Examples of Inadvertent or Peripheral food-discourse  May 9, 2001 (late evening):  Binbaba: An entertainment show with singing and light talk contained a segment in which guests and staff tasted (and endured) exotic foods, such as toasted scorpions.  Tonight 2: An adult (generally sexually- tinged) infotainment show featured two reporters trekking to Nagoya to sample parfaits, fried rice and Italian food. They introduced a dessert shop, a bistro and a small kitchen and brought ice cream back to the studio for on-air sampling.

97. Typical Examples of Inadvertent or Peripheral food-discourse May 25, 2002:  NHK News: A visit to an elementary school in a small city hosting the Slovenian soccer team. The children at the school were sampling the food of Slovenia for an entire week during their lunch period.  Commercial News: Sports reporters were invited to a pre-World Cup event in which they were treated to an eleven course meal that would be offered to VIP ticket holders at the up-coming world cup event.

98. Typical Examples of Inadvertent or Peripheral food-discourse Daily: Mezamashi Telebi ( ‘ Alarm Clock Television ’ ) Short, five minute segments highlight: Rural activities or urban trends Edible items invariably appear Viewed day after day, the cumulative effect of consuming these morning segments is a bipolar “ global ” discourse – local paired with national; rural with urban; domestic with foreign

99. 99 Letsu! Okusama Hiken SCENARIO: a reporter strolls through a neighborhood, knocks on a door, invites him/herself in and shows the TV audience what is being prepared for dinner or else what has already been consumed by the family inside. “ Okusama, konya no okazu wa? ”

100. 100 Letsu! Okusama Hiken Like Mezamashi Telebi ’s “Trends” these “peeks inside” enable Japanese from around the country to observe how others live. Subtext: Discourse about local and national identity. Effect: Food serves the meditative function; effectually, it is a socializer, educator, means of comparison.

101. Reverse Process: Peeks “Outside” Reports about Japanese food in the world or world food, itself, serve to: 1. clarify local identity 2. render the “global” less foreign Example: Saturday 6 p.m.: Japanese lives around the world. (February 2003): A sushi chef operating a restaurant in Los Angeles: Shown training his American staff, shopping in the wholesale market, interacting with his American customers, and going through the daily paces with his wife and Americanized children.

102. Reverse Process: Peeks “Outside” A Second Example: A December, 2002 10 p.m. sportscast featured an extended segment on the “World's Toughest Firefighter Competition” in New Zealand. Included footage of firefighters dragging a 90 kilogram dummy 100 meters and ascending seven stories in full gear In addition, attention was accorded to a cooking competition between chefs from fire departments around the world. The report detailed how the chefs prepared the food, the menu prepared, what the food tasted like, and who won first prize

103. Secondary Discourse Topics or themes that are embedded within food discourse, yet which may neither appear as a primary objective of that discourse, nor even emerge during or after the conclusion of food talk in a patent or “ publicly ” - recognizable way.

104. 104 Secondary Discourse These terms refer to the level of socio- cultural discourse that exists beneath the first, or denotative, level of representation.  Barthes (1957): “ second-order connotation ”  O ’ Barr (1994): “ secondary discourse ” Examples include secondary discourse about gender, individuality, nation, (and the like).

105. 105 Identity in Advertising A large area of secondary discourse in food ads Strikes at all 3 levels:  National  Group  Individual

106. Nationalism Many food companies employ flag-mimicking trademarks (Holden 1999b, 2000, 2003b)

107. 107 Nationalism in Ad Text In this ad, a man is preparing food in his kitchen, only to find himself transported onto a tennis court, facing a powerful foreign player, armed only with a frying pan. Hinomaru When the egg simmers in the pan, it appears as a percolating Hinomaru

108. 108 National Identity in Ad Text A Japanese woman bumps into an Indian man wearing a Pugree …

109. 109 National Identity in Ad Text She thinks: “Oh! Curry…” Which she promptly rushes home to eat.

110. 110 Group Identity in Ad Text “What would you like?” the waiter asks… Cut to a room full of patrons who chant “Sato rice cakes” Cut back to the customer who says: “I think I’ll have Sato rice cakes!”

111. Individual Identity in Ad Text “ Oh! It ’ s the ham man! ” “ This year also … just as you ’ d expect: the ham man. ” “ I ’ m Bessho. ”

112. Individual Identity in Ad Text "Even if it ’ s raining, don't let it bother you … "

113. Individual Identity: Ki ni Shinai (don ’ t worry/don ’ t let it bother you) "Even if they laugh at you, don't let it bother you…"

114. Individual Identity: Ki ni Shinai (don’t worry/don’t let it bother you) "Even if you don't know, don't let it bother you."

115. V. Conclusions

116. From Past Work I have talk about how TV food talk: 1. signals changes in dietary habits, and 2. changes in human behavior and orientation: * toward a face-paced lifestyle * convenience * rapid consumption * disposable goods * solitary living * eating away from home

117. 117 Food for Conclusion One question remains: "why food? “ What is it that qualifies foods as a suitable source and medium for filtering the raw material of popular culture? For one, food is something that all Japanese share in common. It is an essential part of daily life.

118. 118 TV's food-talk is of interest to almost all viewers  Because of food ’ s history (the agrarian basis of Japan; its postwar saga from dearth to bounty);  Food ’ s place in Japanese folklore (animist roots and ritual);  Its ubiquity;  Its easy availability to nearly all societal members; and  Its penetration into many aspects of everyday life.

119. 119 Food is a Part of the Structure of Every Viewer ’ s Life Thus, it serves as a fathomable conduit for all manner of other talk.

120. Summarizing Thus Far  Food discourse is rampant on Japanese television today  That discourse comes in at least 3 forms: dedicated, inadvertent and secondary  Moreover, discourse can be either overt or covert

121. Summarizing Thus Far In all 3 forms deeper social, political, cultural and ideational themes flow. Prominent among these themes concerns identity. Messages of identification embedded in food discourse refer to 3 levels: national, group and individual. Associated with this discourse is discourse about matters such as globalization, nationalism, and individuality

122. Concluding Themes  Mediating Global Identity  Reproducing Nation  Fueling Local Resistance  The Local Nation, Above All

123. Mediating Global Identity Food talk provides Japan with is a discourse about itself. Controlled exposure to “cultures beyond” Japan’s borders in its food-related shows can have the effect of inoculating Japanese viewers against too much foreign intrusion. It can cauterize the local with the global flame, providing a more impregnable version of indigenous identity.

124. Mediating Global Identity At the same time, it is not the case that food discourse works monolithically to nurture nihonjinron.  The widespread reproduction of traditional Japanese cuisine and cultural mores, the education about regional customs and history, can contribute a certain measure of belief about the uniqueness of Japanese culture.  However, food talk also assists the integration of outside influences and lifestyles into Japanese society.  It widens viewers’ “cultural stock of knowledge”  It therefore globalizes

125. Reproducing Nation Recall Williams (1981) admonition to frame sociologies of culture in historical context. To that end we can recognize that behind food talk is the legacy of the not-so-distant past: Embedded in the consciousness of nearly a third of the population is an era of food shortage, which has given rise to overwhelming abundance So, too, does the data reviewed here indicate that TV food shows provide historical continuity

126. Historical Re/production One example is Dochi?! which emphasizes nation via repeated attention to domestic cuisine, as well as the ways that foreign cuisines have been indigenized.  Little or no mention is made of the fact that these modifications have been made.  What was formerly a foreign dish is presented as Japan ’ s own.  Dochi ’ s approach is to offer documentary style lessons in regional history and practices.

127. Reproducing Nation Local historical narratives serve as evidence that globalization may be less transformative than roundly asserted. In such ways, TV food discourse underscores Curran ’ s (2002: 182-3) view that, when it comes to media, “ the nation is still a very important marker of difference. ” Food shows demonstrate that despite numerous continuities with other contexts, national distinction prevails.

128. 128 Fueling Local Resistance Aggregated, the TV food genre strongly communicates localized discourse. “ We Japanese ” eat this sort of food For reasons of tradition, practices, and ways of life that under gird these food choices. This differs from foreign understandings, practices, and tastes Consistent with revision in globalization theory:  Santos (2002): “ counter hegemonic globalizations ”  Localized discourses of “ territorial cultures ” (Hannerz 1992) A dominant cultural practice writ nationwide: shared by all and resistant to external pressure to change.

129. Media, Food Discourse and Japanese National Identity  The position of TV in Japanese society  TV’s enormous reproductive power  Its persistent use of food  And, through food, the constant theme of “local” (national) culture Work together to mediate Japanese identity today.