Course Listings

2026 Spring > UGRD > JAPAN > JAPAN 367L

Food and Culture in Japan: National Identity and Diversity, Past and Present

Course #: JAPAN 367L

Description:
This course explores how food and its consumption have been practiced and represented in premodern and modern Japan. Students will learn about the place of food in Japanese society, as well as the less commonly known aspects of Japanese food culture. The preparation, presentation, and consumption of food take place within structures of power. Food is often intimately tied to discourses of nationalism and national identity, yet it can also symbolize the diversity of society, such as regional identity, gendered divisions of labor, or the "foreign" and its appropriations. The class will investigate these and other aspects of Japanese food culture through written texts, visual arts, and film, in order to encourage a nuanced, complex, and critical understanding of the place of food in Japan.
Pre Requisites:
Pre-requisite: Any 200 level course

Section Class Number Schedule/Time Instructor Location
01 6942 TuTh
4:00 - 5:15 pm
Kawashima,Teruko McCormack M01-0614
Session: Regular
Class Dates: 01/26/2026 - 05/13/2026
Capacity: 10
Enrolled: 10
Status: Closed
Credits: 3/3
Class Notes: This course uses low-cost course material which will cost less than $50. For more information about low-cost course material, please visit open.umb.edu
Pre Requisites: Pre-requisite: Any 200 level course
Course Attributes: International, World Cultures, Low cost course material (under $50)