Examining Traditional Food Processing Landscapes from the Perspective of Cultural Landscapes: Pickle-Making in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan

Abstract

The cultural landscapes of living and living industries in Asia are changing and disappearing, and this is currently under-documented and under-discussed in the international publishing field. This study takes pickle-making in Yamagata Prefecture, Japan, as the research subject, clarifies the constituent elements and characteristics of the cultural landscapes of pickle-making in Yamagata, and analyses the formation and change of the local landscapes from the point of view of the food-processing and production activities. The elements of the cultural landscapes of pickle-making in Yamagata Prefecture were classified as follows: landscapes of cultivation sites, landscapes of processing sites, landscapes of sales sites, landscapes of cooking and eating spaces, and landscapes of special festivals. It was found that the cultural landscapes of pickle-making in Yamagata Prefecture can play a role in supporting and maintaining biodiversity and ecological balance within the region and that they are highly recognizable and inherited. The elements of the cultural landscape of pickle-making are rich and diverse, and the carriers of dependence are not fixed. Special celebrations and festivals constitute important intangible elements of food production behavior and become the spiritual connotation of its cultural landscape. The results of this study are useful in supplementing the current system of cultural landscapes in Japan and the gaps in existing research. It is also conducive to enhancing the understanding of Japanese food culture in the international publishing field and the influence of productive cultural landscapes in Japan as well as in Asia.