Why Do People Eat Sea Worms? Integrated Area Studies on Food Choice in Asia Pacific Islands

2016 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K12783
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Challenging Exploratory Research
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Area studies
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: FURUSAWA TAKURO 京都大学, アジア・アフリカ地域研究研究科, 准教授 (50422457)
• Co-Investigator(Renkei-kenkyūsha): SATO Masanori 鹿児島大学, 理学部, 教授 (80162478)
• Research Collaborator: SIBURIAN Rikson 北スマトラ大学, 数理理工学部, 准教授 ; AMRI Andy ハサヌディン大学, 水産海洋学部, 准教授
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2017-03-31
• Keywords: パロロ / ニャレ / インドネシア / 暦 / 在来暦法 / マイナーサブシステンス / 農耕 / パソーラ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Why are people willing to eat sea worms in some island societies of Asia Pacific? This study aimed at revealing reasons of choosing sea worms and other items as foods from viewpoints of (1) survival, (2) culture, and (3) fun. Contribution of sea worms to nutrient intakes was to a limited extent only, because they were consumed only once or twice a year. Swarming of the sea worms was culturally used as indigenous calendar system because its cycle follows lunisolar calendar. This make people recognize a season for rice plant in some societies in Indonesia. Finally, collection and eating as well as organizing festivals with community members provided participants with some sorts of funs. This study thus found importance of culture and fun in food choice.

Free Research Field

地域研究、人類生態学