How has the geography and climate allowed Kyushu to flourish agriculturally and how has that affected food cultures in the region?

 There are certain aspects that I’d like to go into with with this topic...
 I think focussing in on changes in more recent times, snapshots of 300, 200, 100 years ago and now might be an efficient way. I think also seeing the specific crops that have developed in certain areas in those times (like areas with volcanoes vs. areas by the sea) and how that has affected the food culture there, in Kyushu and, possibly all of Japan. With that, I think seeing how agricultural processes has developed and affected food cultures and how that might be at a risk with 
 the lack of interest in the young generation. 
For resources and backgrounds materials I’d like to find information on early agriculture in Kyushu and the regional specialities and how they came about. If it is at all possible maybe personal accounts. I was thinking of contacting some people I met in Japan and seeing if it is possible to get more of their family history in the area of agriculture. Despite some of the things we have read, I still believe that Japan is very agriculturally based and even partly preserved in those lifestyles - though not necessarily just around one crop (rice). 

Which of the questions you’ve posted (if any) would lead to a research project that is (1) interesting and (2) feasible? 
1. Rank the top three in order. (If you don’t like three, come up with enough new ideas to fill a standard size-3 idea satchel.)
2. Next to each, note briefly:

    •    (a) what disciplines or areas of study this project might fall under;

    •    (b) what might be resources for gathering information on this topic; and

    • (c ) how you might either expand or narrow the parameters




Top three questions: 
What is the future of Japanese agriculture and its effect on the culture of food?
 a.)  Agriculture, technology, environment, ecology, economics
  
b.) Articles such as  Agriculture in Japanese History: a general survey by K. Asakawa in 1929 could then be compared to more recent articles like the article Japan’s Rice Farmers Fear Their Future Is Shrinking by Fackler in 2009. Also, statistics on imports and exports and movement of people away from rural areas. I also think I can draw comparisons to U.S. agriculture. I might also be able to interview a farmer in Japan on his feelings about agriculture now and how it is affecting him today. 

c.) I might try to incorporate my other question, “ How does the landscape of Japan translate into the Japanese food cultures?” into this question. I could talk about how the landscape has channeled agriculture/culture in one direction and how those ways are being further shifted due to influences from technology, environmental changes, economics, culture and how that essentially affects Japan’s food culture. 

How does the landscape of Japan translate into the Japanese food cultures?

a.) I think this would ideally be a part of question 1, but standing alone I think it would be looking into the history of Japan,  ecology, environment and its changes and how this has played a role in affecting how certain regional food cultures have developed over time into what they are “represented” as today.

b.) A good place to start might be this book, The Conquest of Ainu Lands: Ecology and Culture in Japanese Expansion, 1590 - 1800 by Brett Walker. Hopefully I could find some more specifically food related pieces and broader books/articles on Japan’s history in landscape/boundaries, then relate between and create my own “map” of food through time. 

c.) Once again I think it would be nice to combine this with question 1. However, if I was going to make this separate I might expand on the idea of landscape and compare it to other countries of similar landscape and see how they developed similarly or not and if it was the landscape that made those differences happen. 

How does food culture play a role in the arts of Japan?

a.) I could look into art history and music history to find evidence of food. Also maybe going into the kaiseki idea more, because that is an art form in itself and studies on popular culture evolution...

b.) Now that I’m looking it is kind of difficult to find examples of food used in art through history, since that was more popularly nature and food in the arts appears to be a more recent phenomenon. Therefore I could look at the pop culture today; the anime, pop artists, manga, lyrics, music videos, cute characters (anpan man etc..) and fashion and then draw my own ideas for how this happened and how it affects the actual “food culture” surrounding this. 

c.) I think I might have to not only look at food in pop culture/arts but also how this influences body image/eating habits of Japanese (especially young people) and how it has really helped to change the food habits of Japanese today.

1.) How does food play a role in Japanese pride and identity? Also, how does it play a role in protecting identity?

2.) What are the ideas behind the symbolism in Japanese food culture?

3.) How does the landscape of Japan translate into the Japanese food cultures?

4.) What is the future of Japanese agriculture and its effect on the culture of food?

5.) What are the ideas of pride, identity and regional differences in Japan through both culture and food? 

6.) How is the organic movement affecting the food cultures in Japan?

7.) How does food culture play a role in the arts of Japan?

8.) How does the evolution of food affect the older generation in Japan?

9.) What is the role of globalization and the food cultures of youth in Japan?

10.) What problems is Japan facing with food and health and why