Meet FEAST HQ Members!

FEAST HQ is located at RIHN in Kamigamo, Kyoto.

Steven R. McGreevy

Associate Professor, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature

Project Leader / FEAST HQ

Self-introduction：

Steven R. McGreevy is an environmental sociologist (Kyoto University Ph.D. 2012) and associate professor at RIHN. He has a background in agriculture, rural sustainable development, and environmental education. His research focuses on novel approaches to rural revitalization that utilize local natural resources, sustainable knowledge dynamics, sustainable agrifood and energy transition, and the relinking of patterns of food consumption and production in local communities.

Specialized field：

Environmental Sociology

Website：

RIHN Staff Page

Favorite food：

Fish tacos, ice cream, peanut butter

Selected works：

McGreevy, Steven R. & Motoki Akitsu. (2016). "Steering sustainable food consumption in Japan: trust, relationships, and the ties that bind." in Genus, Audley (ed.) Sustainable Consumption: Perspectives, Design and Practices. Springer. pp. 101-117. 
McGreevy, Steven R. & Akira Shibata. (2014). "Mobilizing biochar: A multi-stakeholder scheme for climate-friendly foods and rural sustainable development." in Tomas Goreau, Ronal Larson, and Joanna Campe (ed.) Geotherapy: Innovative Methods of Soil Fertility Restoration, Carbon Sequestration, & Reversing CO2 Increase. CRC Press. pp. 269-281.
McGreevy, Steven R. (2012). “Climate-friendly Farming Production and Biochar: Towards Revitalizing Satoyama and Farming.” In Suzuki, Tatsuya & Hiroya Ushio (ed.) Satoyama Governance. Koyoshobo Publishers, pp.169-181. (in Japanese) 
McGreevy, Steven R. (2012). Lost in translation: Incomer organic farmers, local knowledge, and the revitalization of upland Japanese hamlets. Agriculture and Human Values 26 (3): 393-412. 
McGreevy, Steven R. & Akira Shibata. (2010). A Rural Revitalization Scheme in Japan Utilizing Biochar and Eco-Branding: The Carbon Minus Project. Annals of Environmental Science 4:11-22.

Norie Tamura

Senior Project Resarcher, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature

WG3 Chair / FEAST HQ

Self-introduction：

Tamura was born in Nishinomiya City of Hyogo prefecture. She has taken her current post as Senior Project Resaercher in 2016 following her post at a private thinktank. Her resaerch interests are in natural resource management, the commons, human resource and policy development in primary industries ranging from agriculture, forestry to fisheries, with a particular focus placed on support mechanisms in rural communities in Japan. Tamura recieved her PhD. from Kyoto University in 2007.

Specialized field：

Natural Resource Management, Fishery Policy, Forestry Policy

Website：

RIHN Staff Page

Favorite food：

Crab, yellow garlic chives, sake

Selected works：

田村典江（2014）「海を創る、森を創る―漁民の森づくりと地域管理―」、三俣学編著『エコロジーとコモンズ　環境ガバナンスと地域自立の思想』、pp.129-141、晃洋書房
大石卓史・田村典江・枚田邦宏・奥山洋一郎（2014）：「日本型フォレスター候補者の活動実態　～都道府県職員のうち准フォレスターを対象として～」『林業経済研究』Vol.60, No.2
田村典江（2012）「イノーをめぐる養殖と採集の風景：ヒトエグサ」、『食べられる生きものたち―世界の民族と食文化48』、pp.104-105、丸善出版株式会社
田村典江（2010）「水産エコラベル：その役割と影響」田中克・川合真一郎・谷口順彦・坂田泰造編『水産の21世紀』, pp.176－186, 京都大学学術出版会.

Christoph D. D. Rupprecht

Senior Project Resarcher, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature

WG1 / FEAST HQ

Self-introduction：

I study the diverse entanglements of living beings, especially through the lens of food and agriculture. My interests include more-than-human geography, sustainable food systems, informal green space (such as vacant lots and street or railway verges), urban ecology, degrowth, and environmental justice. You can find me on Twitter at @focx.

Specialized field：

Geography, Planning, Ecology

Website：

ResearchGate

Favorite food：

Sweets, pizza, cheese, real bread, espresso

Selected works：

Rupprecht, C. D. D.; Byrne, J. A. (2017). Informal urban green space as anti-gentrification strategy?. Curran, W.; Hamilton, T. (ed.) Just Green Enough: Urban development and environmental gentrification. Routledge Equity, Justice and the Sustainable City series. Routledge, London, UK. 
Rupprecht, C. D. D., Byrne, J., Garden, J., Hero, J.-M. (2015). Informal urban greenspace: A trilingual systematic review of its role for biodiversity and trends in the literature. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening  14(4) :883-908. （Reviewed）. 
Rupprecht , C. D. D. (2015). The Potential of Absence: Informal Green Space and its Unexpected Legacies. MAS Context . Rupprecht, C. D. D., Byrne, J., Lo, A. Y.  (2015). Memories of vacant lots: How and why residents used informal urban greenspace as children and teenagers in Brisbane, Australia and Sapporo, Japan. Children’s Geographies 14(3) :340-355.
Rupprecht, C. D. D., Byrne, J., Ueda, H., Lo, A. Y.  (2015). ‘It’s real, not fake like a park’: Residents’ perception and use of informal urban green-space in Brisbane, Australia and Sapporo, Japan. Landscape and Urban Planning 143 :205-218. （Reviewed）.
Rupprecht, C. D. D., Byrne, J. (2014). Informal urban green-space: comparison of quantity and characteristics in Brisbane, Australia and Sapporo, Japan. PLOS One 9(6) :e99784. 

Kazuhiko Ota

Project Resarcher, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature

WG2 / FEAST HQ

Self-introduction：

I research the ethics of agrifood systems based on three viewpoints: from the perspective of those who eat, those who provide food, and that which is consumed. I am interested in topics such as why environmental ethics has neglected the soil, what it means to use resources wisely in Japan, and how places that purposefully discuss the future are able to create it. I previously worked as a high school biology teacher.

Specialized field：

Environmental Ethics, Landschaft theory

Website：

ResearchGate

Favorite food：

Spicy food, soba noodles

Selected works：

太田和彦 (2015). 「土壌保全における土壌の文化的意義の検討―風土論からの検討―」『共生社会システム研究』9巻,191-207頁,農林統計出版 太田和彦 (2012). 「環境思想史における農業と食の位置づけ―〈食べる身体〉を中心として」『共生社会システム研究』6巻,166-177頁,農林統計出版

Mai Kobayashi

Project Resarcher, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature

WG3 / FEAST HQ

Self-introduction：

Mai's interests in how socio-ecological, political, and economic issues are embodied by and embedded in "food" started to grow when she was in college. Mai's exploration of "good food" has since led her to visit and work in many farms throughout the world. In graduate school, her work focused on the sustainability and adaptations of small-holder peasan farms. Her field work has mainly been conducted in the Ohara disctrict in Kyoto, and in Western Bhutan. She recieved her Ph.D. from Kyoto University Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies in 2016.

Specialized field：

Environmental Studies, Rural Development

Website：

RIHN Staff Page

Favorite food：

Fermented food such as miso, cheeses, chocolate (around 72%), yogurt, natto, sakes, wines etc

Selected works：

Kobayashi, Mai. (2017). Transitions in Seed Sovereignty in Western Bhutan 2017,03 Transitions in Seed Sovereignty in Western Bhutan. Journal of Environmental Information Science 45(5) :21-30. (Reviewed)
McGreevy, Steven R., Mai Kobayashi, & Keiko Tanaka. (2017). Farming as a Profession, Farming as a Way of Life: Agrarian Pathways for the Next Generation of Japanese Farmers in Kyoto and Nagano. Canadian Journal of Development. (Under review). 
Kobayashi, Mai. (2016) Changing Landscape of Food Production in Western Bhutan – Adaptations of Peasant Farmers in the Era of Organic Agriculture. Dissertation under review for Ph.D. Degree from Kyoto University Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies, Kyoto, Japan. 
小林舞. （2015）. 「ニカラグア湖の島で」平野智照編『手のひらの宇宙—食と農と里山』、Vol. 3., pp171-180. あうん社．
Kobayashi, Mai, Rekha Chhetri and Katsue Fukamachi. (2015) .Transition of Agriculture towards Organic Farming in Bhutan. Himalaya Monographs. Vol. 16. pp66-72. (Reviewed）
Kobayashi, Mai, Rekha Chhetri, Katsue Fukamachi, Shozo Shibata (2015). Transitions in Forest Leaf Litter Use and Agricultural Practices in Western Bhutan, Papers on Environmental Information Science, Vol. 29. pp117-122. (Reviewed）

Maximilian Spiegelberg

Project Resarcher, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature

WG3 / FEAST HQ

Self-introduction：

Max’ interest in actively transforming to a sustainable society through exchange across boundaries of disciplines, cultures, and skills led him to work, study and live at different places, organizations and with all kinds of people. In 2017 Max received his Ph.D. in Environmental Management from Kyoto University and currently works as a FEAST project researcher at RIHN looking into organic markets, bee-keeping, and (urban) gardening.

Specialized field：

Environmental Management

Website：

RIHN Staff Page

Favorite food：

Fruits (esp.watermelon), dumplings, tea's

Selected works：

Spiegelberg, M., Hoshino, S., Hashimoto, S. (2016) Unfolding livelihood aspects of the Water-Energy-Food Nexus in the Dampalit Watershed, Philippines, Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies.（Reviewed）
Spiegelberg, M., Hoshino, S., Hashimoto, S. (2015) Serving the Underserved: The Water–Energy–Food Nexus in Socio-Ecological Production Landscapes, WIT Transactions on Ecology and the Environment, Vol.193, no.7: 181-191, WITPress, Southampton/UK. （Reviewed）.

Rika Shinkai

Project Resarcher, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature

WG2 / WG3 / FEAST HQ

Self-introduction：

My background is anthropology as is my major. Back in days, I studied foods and livelihoods of the ancient people by analyzing and identifying excavated fish/animal bones and seashells. After my graduate studies, I left the academic sphere for child raising and was working as housewife for 17 years. Upon returning to the academic world in 2014, I diverted toward an ecological anthropology research, particularly on the traditional livelihood, ecological knowledge and food life in the mountainous areas in modern-day rural Japan. Currently, I work on “honey bees” with FEAST colleagues. Focusing on bees’ indispensable role in linking us with the environment, agriculture and forestry, we conduct research on beekeeping in both urban and rural areas.

Specialized field：

Zooarchaeology, Ecological Anthropology

Website：

RIHN Staff Page

Favorite food：

Soup, Beans, Millets, Honey

Selected works：

Shinkai, R. (2019) 'The past, present, and future that millets draw', Research Institute for Humanity and Nature and Habu, J. (ed), “Resilience of local communities, Vol.1 Regional Resilience and Traditional Ecological Knowledge”, pp. 34 -49 Shinkai, R., Habu, J. (2018) 'Diversity of staple food, Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Resilience -Cultural landscape of Kawai-mura district from the viewpoint of historical ecology- (Chapter 6)' , Habu, J. et.al (ed.), “Weaving the Knowledge of Mountains, Rivers and the Ocean: Traditional Ecological Knowledge and Ecoliteracy in Tohoku, Nothern Japan" Tokai University Press, pp. 99-140 Ohe, F., Tajima, M., Shinkai, R. (2016) 'Analysis of fish remains excavated from the Hikozaki shell midden: a paleoenvironmental approach.’ Zooarchaeology (33), pp. 17-34 (Reviewed)

Kimisato Oda

Project Resarcher, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature

WG1 / FEAST HQ

Self-introduction：

I study the relationship between people and riparian nature in areas of human activity such as cities and agricultural villages, with a focus on the Lake Biwa hydrological system. Using food as point of entry, I want to learn more about how characteristic regional food culture is connected with aquatic organisms, especially fish.

Specialized field：

Landscape Ecology, Landscape Architecture, Aquatic Creatures

Favorite food：

Oysters, eels, funazushi (fermented crucian carp sushi)

Selected works：

小田龍聖，深町加津枝，柴田昌三. （2016）. 「京都市東山区における河川環境に対する周辺住民の意識とその実態」日本緑化工学会誌Vol. 42 (2016) No. 1 pp. 38-43. （査読付） 小田龍聖. （2013）.「疏水園池群の生態系」奈良文化財研究所著『京都岡崎の文化的景観調査報告書』京都市文化市民局文化芸術都市推進室文化財保護課．

Ryo Iwahashi

FEAST Research Assistant, Kyoto University

WG2 / FEAST HQ

Self-introduction：

My research interest is on sustainable food production – consumption relationship, focusing on organic agriculture and food provision of consumer cooperatives in Japan.

Specialized field：

Geography of food and agriculture

Favorite food：

Citrus fruits, plum, cheese

Yuko Matsuoka

Project Research Associate, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature

FEAST HQ

Self-introduction：

Yuko Matsuoka is a project research associate in charge of office administration.

Favorite food：

Hassaku oranges, chocolate (over 70%)

Yuko Kobayashi

Project Research Associate, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature

FEAST HQ

Self-introduction：

Yuko Kobayashi is a project research associate in charge of office administration. Loves Thailand, Indoensia, beach, palm trees, beer, chillies, tofu and vegetables. Now back in Japan after spending ten years abroad, I hope to help linking Japan and abroad.

Favorite food：

Chillies, tofu, vegetables in general

ALUMNI: Former FEAST HQ Members

Aki Imaizumi

Project Resarcher, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature

WG2 / WG3 / FEAST HQ

Self-introduction：

My research field is agricultural economics, especially market management. I studied seed supply systems in organic farming based on fieldwork in Japan and the Netherlands. I am also interested in agricultural plant genetic resources management and I have analyzed farmers’ and public sectors’ activities for the conservation and use of local varieties in Japan and Europe. During my work as economic advisor at the Japanese embassy in Luxembourg, I studied the Luxembourgish dairy market and organic farming.

Specialized field：

Agricultueal Economics, Seed System Analysis, Agricultural Plant Genetic Resources Management

Website：

RIHN Staff Page

Favorite food：

Sea foods, cheese

Selected works：

Imaizumi, Aki. (2016) Management Agricultural Genetic Resources – Process of justification and seed systems, Showado, Japan ( in Japanese)
Imaizumi, Aki. & Akitsu, Motoki. (2015). “Chapter 20. What are the moral codes for seed-saving? From the interviews with the practitioners in Japan”. in Hongladarom, Soraj (ed.) Food security and foods Safety for the twenty-first century Proceedings of APSAFE2013. Singapore. Springer. pp.229-240.
Imaizumi, Aki. (2014) ‘The Possibility of the Integration of Formal and Farmers’ Seed Systems– A case study of an organic seed supply system in the Netherlands’, Agricultural Marketing Journal of Japan, Vol.22 No.4, pp.1-11, Tsukuba Shobo, Publishers, Japan. (in Japanese)
Imaizumi, Aki. & Hisano, Shuji. (2013). Institutionalisation of Genetic Resource Management with Farmers: Cases of Traditional Vegetables in Japan. Journal of Agricultural Science and Technology B. 3. pp. 339-413.
Imaizumi, Aki. (2010) ‘What Justifies Private Property of Genetic Information?: An Examination of Justification of Property in Institutions for Agricultural genetic Resources’, Journal of Food System Research, vol.17 No.3 pp145-156, Tsukuba Shobo, Publishers, Japan. (in Japanese)

Fumi Iwashima

Project Research Associate, Research Institute for Humanity and Nature

WG1 / FEAST HQ

Self-introduction：

Fumi’s research interests lie in the areas of rural gender studies, gender history, and food and rural sociology. In graduate school, her research topic was co-construction of rural women in post war Japan thorough women’s empowerment programs. She received her Ph.D in Agricultural Science from Kyoto University in 2018.

Specialized field：

Rural Sociology, Gender History

Favorite food：

Coffee, chocolate, cheeze, sake

Selected works：

Iwashima, Fumi. (2017). Representations and Subjectivity of Japanese Rural Women in the Modernization: an Analysis of Women’s Essays in the Rural Life Extension Service, Comparative Study of Personal document and Modernity in East Asia ,p120-136.(translated and published in Korea)
岩島史. (2016).「農村女性政策によるジェンダー構築の重層性－高度経済成長期の京都府久美浜町を事例に－」『農業史研究』第50号、pp14－25.（査読付）
岩島史. (2012).「1950－60年代における農村女性政策の展開－生活改良普及員のジェンダー規範に着目して－」『ジェンダー史学』第8号、pp32－53.（査読付）

Momoe Oga

FEAST Research Assistant, Doshisha University

WG2 / FEAST HQ

Self-introduction：

I have been thinking about how consumers can not only receive food as commodity but also actively participate in food and reflect on society in the food system. I have researched for Food Policy Councils as a place where there is a possibility of realizing it. Also, I have a good relationship with those who have been active in NPOs in Kyoto for a long time, I am working hard to establish and develop FPC in Kyoto with them.

Specialized field：

Food policy, Public policy

Favorite food：

Persimmon, canele, goat milk cheese

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