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Paper short abstract

This paper examines the rise and fall of the rice cultivar Fujisaka No. 5 in Japan’s early postwar food supply. It uses the case of Fujisaka No. 5 to explore broader changes in agriculture and food policy as well as peoples’ food pathways in Japan’s transition from postwar recovery to high growth.

Paper long abstract

In 1935, the Ministry of Agricultural and Forestry established the Fujisaka Agricultural Experiment Station in Towada City of Aomori Prefecture, with the goal of how breed cold-resistant varieties of rice. In 1949, nearly fifteen years later, the team of scientists led by director Tanaka Minoru finally achieved a breakthrough with the rice cultivar, Fujisaka No. 5. Fujisaka No. 5 would become arguably the most important and popular rice variety of the early postwar era, prized for its high yield and cold-resistant properties at a time when Japan was trying to recover from near famine in the aftermath of World War II. Yet, as rice shortages transformed to surplus in the 1960s, Fujisaka No. 5 would slowly fall out of favor due to its poor flavor. Taste mattered more in times of plenty. Fujisaka No. 5 nevertheless continued to have an important impact after its heyday, as a parent of more than 18 rice varieties. This paper examines the rise and fall of the rice cultivar Fujisaka No. 5 in Japan’s early postwar food supply. It uses the case of Fujisaka No. 5 to explore broader changes in agriculture and food policy as well as peoples’ food pathways in Japan’s transition from postwar recovery to high growth.