Is the 'A' in Azuki Red? Challenging Conventional Wisdom with Science, a Botanical Non-Fiction. "The Origin of Azuki" Now Available.
Tokyo Shoseki releases "The Origin of Azuki." Scientifically explains the Jomon origin theory of azuki beans.
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Have you ever thought about the origin of crops? Most crops found in Japan have origins overseas and were brought over with the movement of people. Crops originating in Japan are thought to be limited to a very small number, such as barnyard millet and wasabi, and azuki beans, like rice and wheat, have also been considered to originate from the continent.
However, when the genomes of many azuki bean varieties found in Asia are deciphered, a surprising fact emerges. It has been discovered that the cultivation of azuki beans began in Japan during the Jomon period.
The story leading to this "Jomon Origin Theory of Azuki" begins with the author failing a job interview. After missing out on a position in Kyoto where his fiancée lived, he encountered, on his first day of work, a diverse group of "azuki bean relatives" in a greenhouse, all of the same species yet differing in leaf shape and vine growth patterns.
This is a botanical non-fiction that overturns established theories with science. It delves into the origin of the red azuki bean while carefully explaining "what it means to read a genome" and "what can be understood by reading a genome." (From the Editorial Department)
For Japanese people, azuki beans are a common food, appearing in dishes like sekihan (red bean rice), anpan (red bean paste buns), and zenzai (sweet red bean soup), even if not eaten daily. However, I, at least, had never read a research paper on azuki beans, nor had I heard any research presentations on them at academic conferences. Wondering how much they are actually researched, I searched for "azuki beans" in a paper search database and found 91 hits. "Huh, isn't that few!?" I thought, and then searched for "soybeans," the most important crop in the same legume family, and found 10,000 papers. As expected of soybeans, they are cultivated worldwide for oil extraction. The residue can be used as animal feed or even sold as a raw material for soy sauce. The number of research papers on rice, the most important crop in Asia, was even higher at 22,000.
-- Excerpt from "Foreword"
However, when the genomes of many azuki bean varieties found in Asia are deciphered, a surprising fact emerges. It has been discovered that the cultivation of azuki beans began in Japan during the Jomon period.
The story leading to this "Jomon Origin Theory of Azuki" begins with the author failing a job interview. After missing out on a position in Kyoto where his fiancée lived, he encountered, on his first day of work, a diverse group of "azuki bean relatives" in a greenhouse, all of the same species yet differing in leaf shape and vine growth patterns.
This is a botanical non-fiction that overturns established theories with science. It delves into the origin of the red azuki bean while carefully explaining "what it means to read a genome" and "what can be understood by reading a genome." (From the Editorial Department)
For Japanese people, azuki beans are a common food, appearing in dishes like sekihan (red bean rice), anpan (red bean paste buns), and zenzai (sweet red bean soup), even if not eaten daily. However, I, at least, had never read a research paper on azuki beans, nor had I heard any research presentations on them at academic conferences. Wondering how much they are actually researched, I searched for "azuki beans" in a paper search database and found 91 hits. "Huh, isn't that few!?" I thought, and then searched for "soybeans," the most important crop in the same legume family, and found 10,000 papers. As expected of soybeans, they are cultivated worldwide for oil extraction. The residue can be used as animal feed or even sold as a raw material for soy sauce. The number of research papers on rice, the most important crop in Asia, was even higher at 22,000.
-- Excerpt from "Foreword"