"Employing original fieldwork, historical analysis, and sociological theory, Sekine and Bonanno probe how Japan's food and agriculture sectors have been shaped by the global push toward privatization and corporate power, known in the social science literature as neoliberalism. They also examine...

Mayor Straw Sandals: Kamata Sannosuke and the Meibōka Ideal -- Two The World Turned Upside Down: Hydrological Conflict and the Transformation of Local Leadership -- Three A Harvest of Knowledge and Ambition: Rōnō and the Rise of Agricultural Associations -- Four Fighting the Farmers for...

"Agriculture has been among the toughest political battlegrounds in post-war Japan and represents an ideal case study in institutional stability and change. Inefficient land use and a rapidly aging work force have long been undermining the economic viability of the agricultural sector. Yet,...