Current Events #1: What is "washoku"?

I am researching how “washoku” (traditional Japanese cuisine) is used to create and maintain identity. For diasporic Japanese migrants and their descendants, food offers opportunities to gather as a community around a shared, cultural identity in places where they are often the racial minority. However, in Japan, the government uses washoku as a political tool. Designated in 2013 as a UNESCO intangible cultural heritage, washoku has become a means to promote a specific image of Japanese history and national identity both domestically and internationally.

This news article, "Govt striving to keep local ‘washoku’ culture alive", by the Jiji Press from The Japan News discusses recent programs by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries to keep washoku “alive” by training the next generation in its traditions. The article also illustrates how the label “washoku” unites people from various regions of Japan (including those that have been colonized) as they can identify their local dishes as part of the traditional food of Japan. As the Jiji Press demonstrates, food is not just what one eats—it carries with it narratives of history and culture that, when authored by the Japanese government, create a specific national identity. This article reveals that the government is not only concerned about how to maintain washoku for future generations. The struggle to pass on the traditions of washoku is also one of keeping a collective society and nation-state together, which ultimately helps promote the global relevance of Japan.