January 24, 2025 / Room 301, building 10, Sophia University
In person only / No registration required
People are increasingly moving to Japan from other countries. With them, a broad array of migrant foodways are produced, localized, circulated, and consumed within and beyond these migrant communities. Yet research on migrant foodways in Japan remains scattered and opportunities that put researchers, practitioners and their work in conversation with one another have been rather few.
In this workshop, our food studies group gathered fellow researchers in migration studies, food studies, sociology, anthropology, as well as other disciplines to discuss and foster empirical research and new theoretical directions in the study of foodways of migrants in Japan.
Schedule:
9:00 – 9:30
Opening Remarks – James Farrer (Sophia University)
9:30 – 10:00
Hart Feuer, (co-author: Nami Yamamoto, Vien Thi-Thuc Dinh) (Kyoto University)
"Enhancing Immigrant Foodways in Japan as a Medium for Cultural Integration into Host Communities"
The production and consumption of home-country food among migrants is multifaceted, negotiating cultural continuity, identity expression, and home-making that play a role in stabilization and integration into the surrounding community. Empirical data derive from fieldwork conducted in 2023-2024, involving semi-structured interviews and participant observation with Brazilian and Southeast Asian (Vietnamese and Cambodian) migrant communities in the Kansai and Chugoku regions.
10:00 – 10:30
Takayuki Yamamoto (Sophia University)
"Ritualizing Holidays: Exploring the Foodways of Mobile Migrants in Tokyo"
How do highly mobile migrants ritualize holidays in Tokyo? Contrary to the popular image of mobile migrants as cosmopolitan subjects, the findings suggest that nationality, ethnicity, and religion remain significant in shaping their holiday rituals. At the same time, these migrants can exhibit culturally omnivorous behaviors, celebrating the camaraderie formed with culturally diverse friends in Tokyo. In both cases, local retailers, international supermarket chains, multinational corporations, and migrant-run eateries and restaurants in Tokyo play important roles in ritualizing holidays that are often overlooked by the mainstream population in the host society. When specific ingredients from their home countries are needed for holiday rituals, mobility allows them to physically return, making the procurement of holiday-related materials possible. Overall, the foodways of mobile migrants as expressed in their holiday celebrations suggest that Tokyo’s highly diversified culinary landscape organically supports their preferred culinary practices.
10:30 – 10:40
Coffee Break
10:40 – 11:10
Will Guzman (Tokyo University)
"Plant-Based Eating in Contemporary Japan through the Instagram Hashtag #purantobēsufūdo"
This project traces the emergence, development, and usage of the Japanicized form of the term “plant-based food,” as an Instagram hashtag #purantobēsufūdo from 2015 to 2024. It examines the ways international food practices immigrate into Japan while comingling with local food practices to create new, hybrid foodways. Using novel techniques from digital sociology including geospatial analysis, user metrics analysis, and social network analysis, the study shows how the usage of #purantobēsufūdo travels into Japanese urban areas from North America and Europe before dispersing into increasingly rural regions. In doing so, its meaning departs from associations with Western-style diets including veganism and vegetarianism to concepts traditionally considered more “Japanese” such as shōjin ryōri, prefectural specialties, and Japanese food manufacturers.
11:10 – 11:40
Hyewon Shin (Utsunomiya University)
"Changes in the Function and Position of “Korean” Food in Japan: Yakiniku, Samgyeopsal, and Cheese Dakgalbi"
The study explores the changes in the function and position of Korean food culture in Japan, based on the case study of the Shin-Okubo area, one of the most famous ethnic neighborhoods in Tokyo and has become a representative Korean town in Japan. Particular attention is paid to Yakiniku, Samgyeopsal, and Cheese Dakgalbi. This study focuses on these three cuisines and aims to clarify how each is signified, served, and consumed based on newspaper and magazine articles featuring these cuisines and the Shin- Okubo area, previous research, and interviews with those involved.
12:10 – 13:10
Lunch Break
13:10 – 13:40
Maumita Banerjee (Waseda University)
"Re-Plating Indian Cuisine: National Cuisine and the Indian Diaspora in Contemporary Japan"
The paper adopts a historical and ethnographic approach to trace the recent changes in consumption habits of the Indian diaspora in Nishi-Kasai, through a study of Indian restaurants and their menus in the past few years, such as the introduction of Modi Chai (named after the current Indian Prime Minister), growth of vegetarian restaurants, gradual increase in vegetarian food items in the restaurants of this locality and, sale of vegetarian version of Japanese food items (like gyoza and yakisoba). Studying the interplay of these culinary practices is important to understand how, in today’s globalized society, the national cuisine is constructed by a diasporic community.
13:40 – 14:10
Carmen Tamas (University of Hyogo)
"Polenta Vs. Sushi: Romanian Food and Nostalgia in Japan"
At the end of the 20th century, Japan saw an influx of Romanian migrants who worked in the entertainment industry, a group made up predominantly of women who had found themselves stranded in a foreign culture, this made them gather around the newly opened restaurants owned and managed by Romanian people). This paper will attempt to analyze the development and role within the community of Romanian restaurants in Japan, in a historical approach from the early 2000s, when the number of these migrants was highest, to the present day, when economic recession, the pandemic, and globalization have impacted significant the expansion of Romanian food in Japan.
14:10 – 14:20
Coffee Break
14:20 – 14:50
Rumika Hillyer (University of Portland)
"Cultural Identity, Class, and Economic Factors in the Perceptions of Brazilian Food in Japan"
Brazilian nationals comprise the fifth largest ethnic minority group in Japan—the result of some 130 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries—but Brazilian restaurants only account for about 200 of Japan’s roughly 880,000 total restaurants. This disparity reflects the challenges that Brazilian and Nikkei Brazilian food workers and entrepreneurs face, including high startup costs, cultural barriers, and social stigma. The paper explores the historical development of these challenges and the strategies that Brazilians and Nikkei Brazilian food workers and entrepreneurs employ to navigate them, and illustrates the interplay of cultural identity, class, and economic factors that shape public perceptions of Brazilian food in Japan while highlighting the nuanced roles of both producers and consumers.
14:50 – 15:20
Marita Ibañez (University of Tsukuba)
"A Latin American Foodscape in Japan: Peruvian and Brazilian Food in Jōsō"
Food markets and temporary food stalls act as cultural bridges for Latin American migrants in Jōsō, Ibaraki Prefecture. Focusing on Latin American markets such as the TK Store and the Brazilian Plaza, the availability of packaged products from Brazil and Peru is explored, along with artisanal foods made in Japan by small local businesses, the article shows how these food spaces are fundamental to maintaining cultural ties and community connections, providing migrants a sense of belonging while adapting to a new place (Ibañez Sandoval, 2024). While the influence of Japanese migration on Peruvian and Brazilian cuisine has been widely studied, the impact of Peruvian and Brazilian migration on the Japanese foodscape has yet to be thoroughly explored.
15:20 – 15:30
Coffee Break
15:30 – 16:00
Hiroshi Kojima (Waseda University)
"Halal Foodways and Transnational Family Structures among Muslim International Students in Japan"
Foodways are affected by the family of orientation as well as the family of procreation. But there do not seem to be any studies analyzing the effects of transnational family (household) structures on halal foodways among Muslim migrants in non-Muslim societies, including Japan which is one of the most secular societies in the world. The Waseda Institute of Asian Muslim Studies conducted the Survey on Muslim Students in Japan (2013-2014) in cooperation with the Muslim Student Association-Japan. The study draws on more extensive logit analyses to clarify the effects of transnational family/household structures on Muslim students’ foodways.
16:00 – 16:30
Rina Komiya (Tokyo Metropolitan University)
"Diversity on the Plate: The Halal Meal Dilemma in Japan’s School Meal System"
Among the challenges that the Muslim population in Japan faces, the daily struggles of Muslim children in accessing suitable school meals often go unnoticed. The study explores three layers of this challenge: the complexities of school meal system (学校給食), individual efforts by families, and local community responses. While allergy guidelines were introduced after a tragic 2012 incident, there are no equivalent policies for religious dietary needs, leaving schools to create their own solutions. As a result, Muslim children who need halal food often bring home-packed lunches. This study highlights the need for central government intervention to establish guidelines, helping schools accommodate diverse needs and ensure all children feel included. Addressing these challenges is vital for a true multicultural society in Japan.
17:30 – 18:00
Closing Remarks – Stephanie Assmann (University of Hyogo)
This workshop is organized by Sophia University Institute of Comparative Culture Collaborative Research Unit “ Sophia Food Studies: Mobilities, Sustainability and Ethics”.