チベットの匂いの風景 : その予備的研究

Abstract

匂いに対する嗜好性やイメージの文化的差異を比較するための方法を模索した. 日本人に対し, 27種類の匂い刺激(合成プレーパー20種, T&Tオルファクトメーター基準臭5種, チベットの香り2種 :ヤクのバターとラマ教の香)を用い, 新たに考案した「自由想起法Free Imagery Test :略称FITJによる官能試験を行った. この結果に対し多変量解析を行い, 日本人における食品匂い空間の中に, 異文化の匂いとしてのチベットの香りを位置づけた. これをもとに, 匂い知覚に関する異文化比較の可能性をきらに検討できるだろう.

/ We had planed to research what imagery Tibetans would have when they smelled various flavors of Japanese foods. However, we recognized the difficulty in communication on the imageries of odors while collecting preliminary data in Tibet. Therefore, we carried out an imagery test for Japanese subjects to 20 flavors of variousfoods, the 5 odors which were standards of T &T olfactometer (Japanese standard olfactory test), and 2 Tibetan odors (butter of yak milk arid incense of Lamaism temple). 68 subjects were told to freely describe all imagery elicited by the odors. This method was named "Free Imagery Test (FIT)". The words for expressing imagery were classified into 48 categories. The similarity between each pair of 27 odors was calculated. Then, the similarities were analyzed by the multiple variable analyses (multiple dimensional scaling and cluster analysis). Each cluster is consistent with the physical category of odor resources. Each standard odor of olfactometer belongs to different clusters. It means that the quality of standard odor can also be recognized as a representative of each cluster. The similarities among the only 5 standard odors were recalculated by multiple dimensional scaling. The result shows a high correlation with the arrangement of the five standard odors in twenty-seven odors (r=0.652). Hence, the arrangement of the standard odors might be considered as an absolute framework for odor space. These results also provide the validity of FIT. On the basis of this model, it will be able to establish the way of odor-perception research free from the verbal constraints. Consequently, the new approach will make it possible to compare cross-culturally the perception of odors between Japanese and Tibetan.