This paper discusses the influence of local culture on the choice of cooking fuel at the household level by describing food culture and cooking habits in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. It has been suggested that when socio-economic status improves, households generally upgrade their cooking fuel, shifting from woodfuel to LPG or electricity. Although Uganda’s economy has grown since the 2000s, over 80 percent of the households in Kampala still use charcoal as their main cooking fuel. The food culture and cooking habits in central Uganda are unique. Bananas have high cultural value in the area as staple food and are planted and consumed in large quantities. Observations of the cooking process show that bananas are often steamed for 2–4 hours over a very low heat, which cannot be achieved using modern fuels such as LPG. Even in high-income households, charcoal is still the main source of fuel despite modern alternatives being available and affordable. Thus, residents of Kampala positively choose charcoal over other sources of fuel for reasons inherent to local cooking traditions. Not only socioeconomic status but local food culture also has an important impact on the choice of cooking fuel.

This paper aims to consider the tradition of festival music, focusing on its inheritance. The festival music at the Kishiwada Danjiri Festival held in Osaka was noted to be deteriorated, which has been an issue. A Japanese shinobue flutist, the person who raised this issue, has been working on “improvement activities” that comprise 1) identification of the music, 2) transcription of the music, 3) revival of old sound sources, and 4) enlightenment of children about the music. By analyzing these activities, this paper clarifies how the tradition of festival music became separated from the local apprentice system as it transformed from “Orality” to “Literacy.” This paper analyzes how “literacy” enables access to festival music of the early days and generates conflicts.

This study focuses on the water crisis prevalent in Iran since 2000, particularly in Varzaneh, where the irrigation systems are being fed by the Zayandeh Rud River. Residents of Varzaneh have mostly been farmers for over 800 years, and this region, in particular, has suffered severe water shortage over the last 15 years. Previous studies on arid lands in Iran suggested that most farmers facing water shortage in this region chose to migrate to regions with better water resources. However, it is noteworthy that peoples in this region prefer to resolve water shortage water shortage rather than migrating from there.

This study aimed to reveal how this water shortage has affected there with respect to its irrigation systems and the occupations and lives of its residents, and to consider what makes the choices of the residents of Varzaneh different from those of people residing in other arid lands.

According to our field survey, in contrast with other arid lands, Varzaneh has not been dominated by the traditional landlord-tenant system. This situation has consequently affected the behaviors of farmers. However, the present water shortage has damaged not only the irrigation systems but also every aspect of these farmers’ lives, like a sudden man-made disaster, because the water distribution in the Zayandeh Rud River has changed since the 2000s.