One might say there was an unacknowledged mind-body mind-body dichotomy in the study of Japan in the English-speaking world until as late as the early 1990s. Until then, little serious research on the country’s foodways-and on consumption in general-had appeared in print,1 even though many scholars of Japan-all of them form my own experience – personally enjoyed the enormous variety of food and beverages the country’s creative and dedicated chefs, brewers, and caterers had to offer.