Migrant foodscapes in Japan

Panel Convenor(s)

• JF

  James Farrer

  Sophia University, Japan

Panel Chair(s)

• JF

  James Farrer

  Sophia University, Japan

Presenter(s)

• JF

  James Farrer

  Sophia University, Japan
• GL

  Gracia Liu-Farrer

  Waseda University, Japan
• AA

  Ali Amin

  State Institute of Islamic Studies Manado,, Indonesia
• RK

  Rina Komiya

  Tokyo Metropolitan University, Japan

Japan is becoming an immigrant country, yet Japan’s migrant foodways remain a relatively understudied topic. This panel looks at how migrants adjust and negotiate their foodways in Japanese contexts while also investigating their contributions to the diversification of Japanese urban foodscapes. The five scholars on this panel engage in a productive exchange between food studies and migration studies, re-examining Japanese foodways from the subaltern perspectives of migrants, while also bringing perspectives from food studies to longstanding questions in migration research, including discussion of the migration infrastructure, immigrant entrepreneurship, immigrant incorporation, transculturation, and diasporic cultures.

The papers in this panel encompass a diversity of migration experiences in Japan, including those of Nepalese restaurateurs, Nikkei Brazilians, Rohingya refugees, Muslim migrants from Indonesia, and individual migrant restaurateurs who are not closely tied to any particular migrant community. Food represents opportunities and challenges for all these migrants. Migrant entrepreneurs in Japan participate in the diversification of Japanese foodways, both by creating a culinary infrastructure to feed themselves and by creating “ethnic” restaurants patronized by Japanese locals. Migrants in Japan also face challenges in sustaining their own preferred foodways. For example, migrant parents may seek accommodations for their children’s religious dietary restrictions in Japanese educational institutions in which dietary conformity and commensality are highly valued. Migrant restauranteurs also must meet the expectations of Japanese consumers, while trying to market “authentic” cuisines associated with their homelands.

Studies of migrant foodways thus become a window into the processes by which Japan emerges as an immigrant country with a multicultural palate. The papers in this panel reveal this to be an uneven and contested process in which migrants and Japanese locals interact in varied local contexts. 

Presentations:

• 09:00 – 10:45 (GMT+7)

  Independent migrant restaurateurs and neighborhood foodways in Tokyo
  

  Presenter: James Farrer – Sophia University
• 09:00 – 10:45 (GMT+7)

  Butter Chicken Curry and Naan–Nepalese Immigration and the making of the most popular dish in Japan
  

  Presenter: Gracia Liu-Farrer – Waseda University
• 09:00 – 10:45 (GMT+7)

  Indonesian Muslims' Halal Consumption Practices in Japan and Questions of Their Acculturation
  

  Presenter: Ali Amin – State Institute of Islamic Studies Manado,
• 09:00 – 10:45 (GMT+7)

  Navigating Identity and Dietary Choices: Muslim Immigrant Mothers and School Meals in Japan
  

  Presenter: Rina Komiya – Tokyo Metropolitan University