2011 Volume 7 Pages 1-12
The present study aims to reveal changes in the dietary culture of the farmers in Kita-otari, Otari Village, Kita Azumi-gun, Nagano, since the early Showa era. Seven women and two men, who had lived in the area for more than thirty years and were involved in agriculture, were interviewed in 2005. During the early Showa period, Kita-otari experienced heavy snowfall and inconvenient transportation, and residents’ main occupations were rice cultivation, dry field farming, and sericulture. After the 1960s, the main occupations changed to the construction industry and tourism industry where higher wages could be obtained. Along with a change of occupation, previously self-sufficient eating habits changed to consumption A’dependent eating habits, which allowed residents to purchase a larger variety of foods. Further, village collaboration through festivals, events, and family gatherings decreased, resulting in fewer opportunities to cook together. Yet, people continued to grow their own vegetables and make pickles. Their close relationships with each other seem to have been supported by exchanging seeds, cooking products, and information about the making of pickles.
