Abstract
In Okinawa, the relationship between people and pigs has changed drastically in the process of establishing a mass production system of pigs and completing the shift to “animal factory.” Especially since the
1990s, while pork is preferred and consumed in large quantities by the majority of consumers, live pigs are disliked as “smelly and dirty,” and there is even a movement toward eliminating pig farms. This paper aims to clarify the drastic transformation of the relationship between people and pigs in Okinawa in the process of industrialization of pig farming within the framework of anthropology, which deals with the relationship between people
and animals. First, we overview the history of pig farming and its pork-centered food culture in Okinawa. We
then look back at the history of the revival and industrialization of pig farming after World War II, paying special
attention to the environmental changes that occurred during the process of raising large numbers of pigs and
the shift to full-time pig production. What is important here is the emergence of a new pig “bad odor” discourse
parallel to the process of “separation” of pigs away from human habitation. By examining in detail, the changes
in the physical distance between people and pigs that occurred during the process of industrialization, such as
the remoteness of pigs and the birth of the new “odor” discourse, this paper describes the historical and environmental changes in which the anti-pig farm movement arose, in contradiction with the mass consumption
of pork. Finally, we envision the form of the “ethics of meat eating” that should be fostered under a system of
mass production and mass consumption.
https://ror.org/015cgnr56 
