Abstract
Little is known about why smelly foods have been maintained for long periods of time despite their unpleasant smell. Previous research suggests that regional background and family environment during upbringing influence food selection. Based on those findings, we hypothesized that living in a region where traditional smelly foods are produced and consumed during one's childhood would enhance the recall of such foods in adulthood. Additionally, we proposed that this childhood experience would positively influence the effect of marriage on an individual’s recall of smelly foods. We selected kusaya as the chosen smelly food and examined how, as the main effect, living in the Kanto region of Japan until the age of 20 impacts an individual’s kusaya recall. Furthermore, we explored the moderating effect of this upbringing on kusaya recall and marital status by sequentially inputting variables into a logistic regression model. Both effects were confirmed. This study contributes to the understanding of how characteristic smelly foods can be preserved by clarifying the factors that enhance their recall, using kusaya as an example.
