Download faculty of arts and social sciences - the Asia

ASIA–CANADA PROGRAM
AQ 5115, 778-782-3689, www.sfu.ca/AsiaCanada
ASC 303-3 Food and Drink in Japanese History and Society
Semester:
Instructor:
Fall 2016 (1167)
Dr. Simon Nantais
D100
Burnaby
[email protected]
COURSE CONTENT In this seminar, students will
examine the history and culture of Japanese society
through food and drink. In most societies, food and
drink consumption has meant more than just daily
survival. Though eating is a solitary act, for most of
history, including Japan’s, people have been eating
in groups, whether as families or as part of a
religious, military or other group. The study of food
and drink reveals how the production, harvest,
consumption, sale, and marketing of comestible
products over the centuries has helped to shape
national identity. Japan is a country whose national
identity has been closely associated with food and
drink – such as the tea ceremony, rice, and sushi –
and even of foreign food it has refashioned
according to its domestic consumers’ tastes and reexported to a global audience, such as Chinese
ramen and European beer.
Through in-class discussions, movies, and field trips,
this course will examine the role of food – and food
scarcity – in Japan in the fields of history, anthropology, sociology, literary analysis, religious
studies, and environmental studies. Major themes covered in the course include the role of food
and drink in delineating Japanese national identity; the role of religion, particularly Buddhism, in
the tea ceremony and the meat-eating taboo; adoption and adaptation of foreign foods and drinks;
the role of manners in banquet and group functions; the impact of Japanese imperialism, war,
and the Allied Occupation on food and dietary habits; the role of gender on the culinary world at
home and beyond it; and cultural changes associated with Western fast food and beverages.
REQUIRED READING: online readings.
COURSE REQUIREMENTS
Personal Reflection Paper
Review Article
Field Trip Report
10%
30%
10%
Final Exam
Participation
SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY ENGAGING THE WORLD
30%
20%