We would like to invite you to the next meeting of the DIJ History & Humanities Study Group
Organizers: Kristina Iwata-Weickgenannt & Susanne Klien Wednesday, 27 March 2013, 6.30 pm at the German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ), Tokyo.

This month's speaker will be
Cornelia Reiher, Halle University
who will give a presentation on

Spatializations of food safety in contemporary Japan

Japan is faced with various problems related to food and nutrition. Japanese agriculture and fishery is in a free-falling decline and food scandals and irradiated food products stir fears amongst Japanese consumers.
Japan's low food self-sufficiency ratio and the dependency on imported foods have been discussed among policy makers, consumer advocacy groups and producers alike for several decades. The paper discusses discourse on three different food s afety issues: GMO foods, the use of pesticides and irradiated food. It analy zes the agendas of consumer advocacy groups, producers, JA and the national government against the background of global food chains, livelihood problems of rural food producers in Japan and the growing complexity of food choices Japanese consumers have to handle. This paper argues that within this disco urse, the spatialization of food safety and food risks is a strategy in favo r of producers' interests and thus not necessarily on behalf of consumers.
Based on recent field work in different parts of Japan, the relationship bet ween food distribution networks, consumer advocacy organizations, farmers, f ood producers, JA officials and ministry bureaucrats will be explored.

Dr. Cornelia Reiher is a Lecturer in the Institute of Political Science and Japanese Studies at Halle University, Germany. She received her PhD from Lei pzig University for a thesis about 'Discourses on local identity in rural J apan. Arita's ceramic industry in global contexts'. Her current research f ocuses on globalization, food politics and identities.

The presentation will be given in English. Admission is free. The DIJ Study Groups are a forum for young scholars and Ph.D. candidates in pertaining fields.
Everybody is welcome to attend, but kindly asked to register with Susanne Klien: klien@dijtokyo.org

German Institute for Japanese Studies (DIJ) Jochi Kioizaka Bldg. 2F, 7-1 Kioicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo
102-0094
Phone: 03-3222-5077Fax: 03-3222-5420
http://www.dijtokyo.org/access&lang=en