Food Safety in Modern Japan

This paper will investigate the latter issue through an analysis of food safety in modern Japan. The importance of food safety to many Japanese consumers is reflected in the growth of organic food production, the success of the Japanese consumer cooperative movement over the past 20 years, and the “greening” of the marketing strategies of many food firms. We will begin with a review of historical concerns about food supply and the relationship between diet and health. We then demonstrate the extent to which food safety concerns have become widespread amongst Japanese consumers and how food safety concerns are a logical outgrowth of historical concerns about food security and health. These findings are then reviewed within the context of theories of contemporary Japanese social change. Our argument is that consumer concern over food safety reflects the cultural value placed on eating and health, is unlikely to dissipate in the foreseeable future, and that the emergence into the mainstream of food safety concerns presents challenges to Japanese social movements promoting alternative food systems.