NHK Video: Exploring Tokyo's Culinary Backstreets (original) (raw)
Related papers
Gastronomica: The Journal of Critical Food Studies, 2017
In the face of globalization, chefs in Kyoto, Japan have worked to protect local food culture and revive the local food economy. Their actions do not constitute “resistance,” nor are they simply signs of the persistence of local difference in the context of large-scale changes. Drawing primarily on interviews I conducted with prominent chefs of “traditional” Kyoto cuisine and participant observation at events related to Kyoto cuisine, this article examines chefs’ approaches to outside influence and promotion efforts abroad. I pay specific attention to the incorporation of new foreign ingredients into Kyoto cuisine and new efforts to share culinary knowledge with foreign chefs, namely the establishment of a work visa system and the creation of a cookbook series targeted at professional chefs abroad. Kyoto's chefs, this article demonstrates, have been strategically engaging with globalization, actively refashioning the local to try to control it at a global scale.
2021
This paper introduces research and fieldwork methods education for Japanese Studies students at Freie Universität Berlin. It aims to support training in research design, research methods and fieldwork in and beyond Japan in order to respond to the increasing demand for systematic and transparent research practices in Japanese Studies and Area Studies communities. Drawing on Berlin's vibrant Japanese foodscape this course provides students with opportunities to plan and conduct research projects on various aspects of Japanese food. Students present their research results and reflections on methods and fieldwork in video tutorials online through the course blog. Based on my experiences with teaching this course for four years, I suggest that in order to teach a successful method course in Japanese studies programs, it is important to 1) inspire students to conduct their own fieldwork, 2) provide opportunities for students to actively participate in the course and decision-making p...
Japan’s Cuisines: Food, Place and Identity by Eric Rath
[Japanese cuisine] has basic common characteristics but has great diversity from Hokkaido in northern Japan, to Okinawa in southern Japan, responding to the wide range of geographical conditions and the differences of historical background (UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage nomination file). The nomination of washoku, or Japanese cuisine, as a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage did much more than safeguard a central part of Japanese traditions, it helped solidify the idea of a common national cuisine in a land with tremendous regional and historical diversity. In Japan's cuisines: Food, Place and Identity, Eric Rath an historian of pre-modern Japan and expert on the construction of traditions makes the case for the many cuisines of Japan. His main goal is to question homogenous representations of Japanese cuisine introducing the reader to a country with cuisines that differ throughout time and geographical areas. In truth, the book's subtitle could have very well be called: Foods, Places and Identities as it aims to uncover the multiplicity of foods, places and identities upon which Japanese cuisine is constructed. For the author, Japanese cuisine is an ideological tool of control and belonging shaped by a specific agenda. In this process, representations of culinary traditions are carefully selected or omitted to produce an idealized picture of traditional cuisine. However, it might be limiting to attribute a unique diet to an entire population as eating practices are far different from ideal representations. For example, rural cuisine is considered an unchanging representation of the past, yet habitants of these peripheral regions take an active role in shaping and reaffirming claim over their culinary repertoire. In this manner, Rath's approach resonates with past studies that seek to uncover the invention of traditions (Hobsbawm and Ranger 1992; Vlastos 1998). The chapters of the book all contribute to the author's main argument but they address separate culinary elements and should therefore be briefly presented in this review. In the first chapter, Rath makes the case that although washoku is presented as Japanese cuisine, it is in fact a nationalist ideology. In this chapter, he sets the stage for his book dispelling the monolithic dimension of Japanese cuisine and presenting the regional and historical heterogeneity of the Japanese diet. In chapter two, Rath introduces the reader to cha kaiseki, the course meal served in conjuncture with the Japanese tea ceremony and an essential part of the so-called traditional culinary esthetic. The author presents compelling evidence that this heavily formalized meal has been mistakenly attributed to a single tea master−in part to empower the descendants of his legacy−when it is in fact the product of broader historical developments. In the third chapter, Rath tackles the prominence of rice consumption widely considered a cornerstone of Japanese culture. Using historical data, he unveils a much more diffuse image of daily diet where few people outside of urban dwellers consumed much rice in its polish form opting instead for porridges made of small amounts of rice mixed with other easier to grow staples in ways that are out of use today. The fourth chapter presents
Visual Aspects of Traditional Japanese Cuisine
Maximova, S.G., Raikin, R.I., Chibilev, A.A., Silantyeva, M.M. (eds) Advances in Natural, Human-Made, and Coupled Human-Natural Systems Research. Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems, vol 250. Springer, Cham, 2023
The paper focuses on the visual aspect of traditional Japanese cuisine, which is an aspect of everyday Japanese culture. Studying from this perspective is relevant due to the ongoing and growing interest of science in everyday culture, including the culture of Asia–Pacific countries, which begins to play a significant role in developing culture as a whole. The study reveals the specifics of the visual aspect of traditional Japanese cuisine, that is, the features of the visual representation of Japanese dishes, which determines the scientific novelty of the work. The author conducts the study culturally, integrating data from various fields into a single multidimensional study of traditional cuisine as a system of interrelated elements with the main subject in the form of the visual aspect of traditional Japanese cuisine. Through description, generalization, and systematization, the author presents several fundamental Japanese cuisine principles, emphasizing the combination of aesthetic, utilitarian, visual, and flavor components, which are of equal importance for Japanese cuisine. Based on the study, the author concludes that traditional Japanese culture is characterized by a holistic perception of the world and the unity of the rational and emotional principles in the worldview, which is manifested at the level of everyday culture in the form of traditional dishes.
Menus for the Soul Changing Food Landscapes in Contemporary Japan
Ca’ Foscari Japanese Studies
As Nancy K. Stalker (2018) points out, in recent years food in Japan has established itself as a fundamental feature of national and local identity and became one of Japan's most influential cultural brands. An intriguing example is the B-kyū gurume boom, the celebration of creative versions of typical comfort food, intertwined with the obsession for local traditions. Such processes are reflected in representations of food in media and arts: contemporary culture plays a fundamental role in shaping but also in connoting food culture with new meanings. The aim of this paper is to analyze the construction and narration of contemporary Japanese food culture in one of the most recent and successful franchises, Shin’ya Shokudō, the popular manga by Abe Yarō, which inspired the Netflix series that enjoyed unexpected international success in 2017.