Nutritional Policies and International Diplomacy

This book offers a general approach to the importance of nutrition and public health policies in the process of modernisation of Japan during the interwar years. It describes the origins of scientific and technical modernisation during the Edo, Meiji, and Taisho periods, including the demographic and epidemiologic background, and the birth of a public health administration parallel to the strengthening and expansion of the Japanese empire. Special attention is given to the cultural significance of rice for the Japanese population, and its close relation to disease and nutritional deficiencies, especially beriberi.

The second part of the book is devoted to the prominent figure of Tadasu Saiki (1876-1959), founding father of Japanese nutritional science, and his initiative in creating the Imperial State Institute for Nutrition (ISIN) in Tokyo. The new institution boosted national policies and a wide international diplomacy generating great expectations in Japan and abroad. The international impact of Japanese nutritional research and dietary policies is also analysed. The book ends with an analysis of the negative consequences of the Second World War, a critical breakdown in health and nutrition among the Japanese population.

Auteur

Josep L. Barona is professor of history of science at the University of Valencia. His research deals with international diplomacy, public health and nutritional policies in the global context focused from a transnational perspective.

Contenu

1 Nutritional policies and international diplomacy: soft power in favour of Japanese prestige

2 Demographic and epidemiologic background. The birth of a public health administration

3 Rice in Japanese culture

4 Rice, diet, and the problem of beriberi

5 Tadasu Saiki (1876-1959), founding father of Japanese nutritional science

6 The Imperial State Institute of Nutrition (1920) in interwar years

7 The international impact of Japanese nutritional policies

8 The consequences of the Second World War