Fighting food risks
DR EMAKO MIYOSHIDr Emako Miyoshi, Associate Professor at Osaka University,
Japan, is conducting an interdisciplinary research projectthat aims to resolve food safety issues in China
Can you outline
the key objectivesof your research
project?

What is the main method you use to develop
young researchers and encourage university
students to become involved? What impact
will this strategy have in the future?

Our research lab
is conducting
interdisciplinary
research to tackle
environmental
problems. The
aim of ourcurrent project is to contribute towards
the elimination of food risks throughinternational collaboration. We havebeen investigating how soil, air and waterpollution relate to food risks in China, inorder to resolve these problems and help
China along the path to global food safety.

One of the key objectives of our research is tocreate unique and practical learning experiences
for students. Our Contemporary China Studies
framework is an interdisciplinary education
programme that aims to help graduate students
acquire a broad education and gain the ability
to see issues from different viewpoints, whileallowing them to build advanced specialist
knowledge in a specific area. This meansthat students from different disciplines cancome together to discuss and contribute totheir respective academic fields from broad
perspectives. We have promoted our related
research activities to enhance interaction
between Chinese and Japanese students in thehope that this will improve future relationships.

The issue of food risk between China andJapan is frequently aired and despite good
economic relations between the countries,
it is serious. We are currently examining
how to further promote interaction between
Chinese and Japanese researchers, including
students. We hope our research willcontribute to the establishment of a better
future relationship between China and Japan.
China is fast becoming a major player inthe world economy. What has been done
to improve the security and reliability of
its food market?
Globalisation has led China to become aworld manufacturing centre. However,there is still a big gap between China andother manufacturing centres such as theUK, Germany, the US and Japan. Thesedeveloped countries produce their exports
with the aid of their own technology
and capital whereas China is more of amanufacturing base rather than an assemblybase of foreign articles. In addition, China
lacks resources and has a high demand
for foreign material supplies. China’s
development of manufacturing on a global
scale thus seems dependent on the global
supply chain.
Since China became a member of the World
Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001, its
processing industries have grown rapidly
due to a combination of low costs, growing
markets and government policies. The
Chinese Government has improved its foodsafety supervision, established new laws andenforced inspections to ensure food safety,
especially of exports.
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INTERNATIONAL INNOVATION

Who are your collaborators and why did you
select them to contribute to your research?
Our key Chinese collaborators are Professor Pei
Jiang of Nankai University in China and Professor
Yuming Hsu of National Dong Hwa University
in Taiwan. We have collaborated in order tohold international conferences on social change
in contemporary China and to help young
researchers to develop. We have also establishedcollaborations with a number of otheruniversities in China to study different types ofpollution. We hope to expand our collaborative
scope, further contributing to our global society.
Your project committee has held fiveinternational conferences and symposiums
since 2011. What were the major outcomes
and how did they benefit your research?
As core members of the Osaka University Forumon China (OUFC), we have held international
conferences where the official language is
Chinese. These have attracted many different
participants from across East Asia. Our projectcommittee has also hosted two international
conferences focusing on the safety, security
and reliability of food, as part of the OUFC
movement. We have emphasised the necessityof open systems through learning or throughacademic interchange between China andJapan. Young researchers have a key role toplay in improving future relationships between
these countries. At the same time, we holdpublic lectures on food risks, because trust andcredibility cannot be manufactured – they can
only be earned through good performance andeffective communication.

DR EMAKO MIYOSHI

Advancing international relations

With existing concerns regarding Chinese food exports, a multidisciplinary team of researchers
from China, Japan and Taiwan is collaborating to achieve improved food safety and risk communication
As China becomes an increasingly prominent
player in today’s global food market, unease has
been growing over the safety of the country’s
produce. Triggered by a number of high profile
food manufacturing accidents and claims thatvegetables are often contaminated with highlevels of pesticides and heavy metals, theseconcerns are being voiced at both a domestic
and international level.
In response, the Chinese Government passed
a new food safety law in 2009 and formed apolitically driven Food Safety Commission in2010. They have also imposed stricter controlson the traceability of vegetable exports andannounced their commitment to tacklingperpetrators involved in food safety scandals.
However, some critics suggest there arestill gaps between these policies and theirimplementation.
Concerns about Chinese food safety areparticularly
prevalentamong Japanese
consumers, with Japan being the leading market
for Chinese vegetable exports. In view of this,researchers based in China, Japan and Taiwan arecollaborating to enhance risk communicationon the safety, security and reliability ofChinese food produce. The group is also aiming
to improve Chinese-Japanese relations andfacilitate the development of students andyoung investigators.
AN INTEGRATED APPROACH
Dr Emako Miyoshi, Associate Professor at
the Graduate School of Human Sciences in
Osaka University, Japan, is a core memberof the collaborative project. With a researchbackground in human environmental sciencebased on physical chemistry, Miyoshi ispassionate about using sustainability science
as a means to examine the issues surrounding
Chinese food safety risks. As a transdisciplinary
approach, sustainability science forges links

between environmental, economic, social andpolitical spheres, developing integrated tools
to investigate these systems and the ways inwhich they connect. Miyoshi and her colleagues
are focusing their efforts predominantly onsustainability issues surrounding human andfood security.

The research project has important
real-life implications as both China
and Japan stand to gain from thecontinuance of strong trading ties
The Contemporary China Studies programme
at Osaka University, formed in 2010, has
successfully brought together Japanese andChinese students from a range of disciplines. A
wide range of projects have been run, particularlyon the topics of food and agriculture as well as
their impact on human life and culture.
TRADE TIES
Three factors in particular have furthered
China’s competitive advantages in the global
food market. Firstly, following more than two
decades of reforms aimed at shifting the country
towards a free market economy, China becamea member of the World Trade Organization(WTO) in December 2001. Secondly, Chinese
food-processing industries have burgeoned due
to a combination of low costs, growing markets
and favourable government policies. Finally,
there has been a sizeable expansion of strategic
alliances between Japan and China regarding theimport of Chinese vegetables.
The robust economic relationship between thetwo nations is mutually beneficial. From theJapanese point of view, consumers have accessto a range of fresh, low-cost agricultural imports
from China. From the Chinese perspective,
Japanese industries have created many
employment opportunities, as well as providing
the Chinese food industry with technologicalassistance and developments. Miyoshi’s research
project therefore has important real-life
implications as both China and Japan stand to
gain from the continuance of strong trading ties.
BUILDING TRUST
Miyoshi aims to create a conceptual risk
framework based on the theory of cognitive
psychology. Although the terms ‘safety’ and ‘risk
perception’ are often used interchangeably, they
have different meanings. ‘Safety’ is a scientificdiscipline that can be enhanced by technologies
while ‘risk perception’ is a subjective, emotionled judgement that people make about certain
factors. In view of these differences, theoverarching concept in Miyoshi’s research isthat of social trust in the safety of China’s global
food exports, which she hopes her collaborative
project will promote.
Second-hand information – such as that provided
by the media – gives rise to predictors thatlargely determine social behaviour. In a previous
research project, Miyoshi explored how the media
contributed to the erosion of consumer security
and social trust in the wake of the accidental
export of poisoned dumplings from China toJapan in 2008, and the negative perception thisgave of Chinese food. Rather than focusing on
the incident itself, the Japanese media blew thescandal out of proportion, implying there wereserious safety problems in the Chinese foodproduction system: “The media misled Japanesecustomers, severely damaging the image not onlyof Chinese products, but China,” Miyoshi explains.
“It incited a high social mobilisation that led major
food markets in Japan to recall the dumplings, aswell as other Chinese-produced food.”
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INTELLIGENCE
PRACTICAL RESEARCH AIMED AT
BUILDING RISK COMMUNICATION OVER
THE SAFETY, SECURITY AND RELIABILITY
OF FOOD IN CHINAOBJECTIVES• To contribute to the establishment of better
future relationships among East Asian
countries, including China and Japan, throughthe systematic investigation of food safety
focusing on Chinese food safety, the perceptionof risk and social trust• To contribute to the development of young
researchers in China and JapanKEY COLLABORATORS
Professor Hitoshi Tanaka, Graduate School of
Law and Politics; Associate Professor Weidong
Xu, Graduate School of Economics; AssistantProfessor Mizuka Kimura, Graduate School of
Human Sciences, Osaka University, Japan

PARTNERS
Nankai University, China • National Dong Hwa
University, Taiwan • Zhejiang University, China •Lanzhou University, China • Nanjing University ofInformation Science & Technology, China • China
Agricultural University, China

FUNDING

In view of this, Miyoshi is currently investigating
how to build an effective means of risk
communication that conveys accurate andreliable information about food safety risks. The
hope is that risk-management agencies suchas the government will learn to communicate
risks in a way that garners widespread
trust and contributes to conflict resolution.
Miyoshi’s research aims to promote a mutual
understanding between risk evaluators andmanagers through enhanced collaboration.
A KEY INFLUENCE
To conduct her research, Miyoshi has drawn heavily
on the systems theory of Niklas Luhmann, oneof the most important social thinkers of the 20th
Century. Luhmann identified that the relationshipbetween social systems and communication (themost prominent structure for a working society) is
fundamental to reducing such social complexities
as global food safety and security. His theory
considers three key concepts: trust, observationand the distinction between risk and danger – theformer two being of particular interest to Miyoshi.
Luhmann argued that trust plays a central role inmitigating social risks, using previous experience
to inform better future decisions. However, trust
does not necessarily take into account the quantity
or quality of existing information, meaning that it
can sometimes be portrayed as hyperbolic or false.

When it comes to building trust, Luhmanntheorised that familiarity is one of the major
factors. However, the Japanese Government’s
Cabinet Office reported a yearly decline in
the familiarity between Japanese and Chinese
populations. Based on Luhmann’s theory, notonly has the poisoned dumplings scare in 2008
eroded Japanese trust in Chinese food, but also
fed into existing tensions and mistrust between
the two countries.
FUTURE DEVELOPMENTS
The research conducted by Miyoshi and hercolleagues is leading to a greater understandingof the global challenges faced by China.
Importantly, the various collaborative studies
undertaken as part of the Contemporary China
Studies programme illustrate the necessity ofopen communication systems between China
and Japan, which can be significantly enhanced
through academic interchange.
Looking to the future, the researchers are keen tocontinue their collaborative efforts, pooling theirresources and backgrounds to further investigate
these important issues and promote the conceptof sustainability science. They are also keen to
oversee the transformation of their theoreticalresearch into practical learning experiences forstudents and young researchers.

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
Grant-in Aid for Scientific Research B (200810) • Grant-in Aid for Challenging Exploratory
Research (2010-12) • Grant-in Aid for Scientific
Research B (2011-13) • The Future Research
Initiative Group Support Project of Osaka
University (2013-15)

CONTACTDr Emako Miyoshi
Principal Researcher
Osaka University Graduate Schoolof Human Sciences
Yamadaoka 1-2, Suita, Osaka
Japan 565-0871
T +81 72 730 5220
E emako@hus.osaka-u.ac.ip
www.dma.jim.osaka-u.ac.jp
view?l=en&u=3049
EMAKO MIYOSHI was Assistant Professor atTokyo University of Agriculture until 1993 when
she began her three-year PhD at the Graduate
School of Human Life Science, Osaka City
University, Japan. She then worked as a lecturer
and Associate Professor at the Osaka Universityof Foreign Studies until 2007. She is now
Associate Professor at the Graduate School of
Human Sciences, Osaka University, and has led
four major research projects.

Past events
The project has held a number of international conferences
and symposiums:
 he International Conference on Environment and Food
T
Safety, Beijing, China, 2011
The Student Forum: Environmental Health and Food Safety in
Our Daily Life, Beijing, China, 2011 he Symposium on Food Safety, Security and Reliability,
T
Osaka, Japan, 2012
‘Thinking of Learning at the Same University’, a forum plannedby Chinese and Japanese Students, Osaka, Japan, 2012T he International Symposium: The Consensus and Development
between China and Japan in a Risk Society, Osaka, Japan, 2013

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