This course focuses on the intersection of Japanese culture, food, and literature. This is an interdisciplinary course designed to integrate perspectives on the history, aesthetics, practices and tastes of food in Japan. It encourages analytic thinking and effective expression on food and culture as they are experienced and expressed in Japan’s past and present. The topics covered will range from food production and consumption to religious and artistic representations and the construction of cultural identities. We will spend time in the following cities: Tokyo, Fujiyoshida (at the base of Mount Fuji), Omi Hachiman, Kyoto, and Hiroshima.