ONLINE Lecture

Onigiri: A Cultural Encounter
by Professor Gavin Whitelaw

7-8:15PM Thursday, November 13

Webinar
Admission FREE
RSVP REQUIRED

We are excited to team up with TABLE FOR TWO USA (TFT) once again to support their 11th annual Onigiri Action campaign, an autumn social good initiative that connects the simple act of taking a photo with helping to feed schoolchildren in need. Every photo of an onigiri (Japanese rice ball) posted to the campaign website or on social media with #OnigiriAction between October 7 and November 15, 2025, helps provide five school meals to children in need around the world.

As part of this initiative, we are pleased to invite you to an online lecture by Dr. Gavin Whitelaw, sociocultural anthropologist and Executive Director of Harvard’s Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies. Drawing on his research and firsthand experiences in Japan, Dr. Whitelaw will discuss how the onigiri—a staple of Japanese convenience stores (konbini)—reflects the country’s evolving social and cultural landscape. His talk will also examine the globalization of Japanese cuisine, as well as the challenges and tensions embodied in Japan’s most iconic fast food.

LECTURER

GAVIN H. WHITELAW, Ph.D.
Sociocultural Anthropologist & Executive Director
Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies, Harvard University
 

Gavin H. Whitelaw is Executive Director of the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies. Dr. Whitelaw received his Ph.D. in Sociocultural Anthropology from Yale University and has spent over a decade living and teaching in Japan. Prior to joining the Reischauer Institute in 2016, he was Senior Associate Professor of Anthropology and Japan Studies at International Christian University (ICU) in Tokyo for eight years. His research and writing on contemporary commerce, work life, foodways, and Japan’s material culture have been supported by Fulbright and MEXT grants and appear in numerous edited volumes and peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Whitelaw teaches on the anthropology of food through Harvard’s Division of Continuing Education and has held visiting appointments at Colorado College, Boston University, and Waseda University.

This program is co-presented with TABLE FOR TWO USA.