01212nas a2200133   4500000000100000008004100001260002300042100001800065245004400083856014900127300001200276520074300288020004701031                                       d  bTaylor and Francis1 aK.J. Cwiertka00aWashoku, heritage and national identity  uhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85136714397&doi=10.4324%2f9781315746678-27&partnerID=40&md5=4a9da78326b8840c4884683b6d302ab2  a376-3883 aWashoku is nowadays commonly known as the name for traditional Japanese cuisine, which is roughly defined as being based on rice and miso soup with other dishes and putting emphasis on seasonal ingredients. On 4 December 2013 washoku was inscribed on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and has ever since been heavily utilized by the Japanese government for nation branding. This chapter argues that washoku is a myth, which reveals more about Japan’s twentieth-century transformations than about its age-old culinary traditions. The case of washoku confronts us with the vulnerability of historical truth and the dangers the agendas of cultural diplomacy pose for the narratives of the past.  a9781317599043 (ISBN); 9781138815186 (ISBN)