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Lecturer(s)
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Course content
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1. Food, food culture and its change 2. Rice and its role in the Japanese society 3. Tea, tea ceremony and tea rooms 4. Fish, Tsukiji and global supply chains 5. The aesthetics and seasonality of washoku 6. Japanese home cuisine and its transformation 7. Early Japanese restaurant forms (sukiyaki and teppanyaki) 8. Sushi, its transformation and democratisation 9. Ramen and its global boom 10. Onigiri and the konbini generation 11. Shokuiku (culinary education) in Japan 12. Japanese restaurant as a tool of a cultural diplomacy
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Learning activities and teaching methods
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Monologic Lecture(Interpretation, Training), Dialogic Lecture (Discussion, Dialog, Brainstorming), Group work
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Learning outcomes
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In 2013, the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization agreed to register washoku as an intangible world cultural heritage. Washoku is defined as a social practice based on a set of skills, knowledge, practice and traditions related to the production, processing, preparation and consumption of food. The main aim of this course is to explore Japanese cuisine through an analysis of its cultural and social context, and especially the dynamic exchange between local and global influences. It will firstly look into the symbolism behind key commodities as rice, tea or fish and then continue with a socio-cultural analysis of the most important dining styles and their spread from Japan abroad.
During this course, students will explore the influence of geography, history, and societal development on culinary traditions and consumption mechanisms in contemporary Japanese society through critical analysis of selected texts and discussions. Upon completing the course, students should be able to analyze the dynamics influencing the development of culinary culture, particularly the struggle between the efforts to preserve local authenticity on one side and innovations driven by global trends on the other.
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Prerequisites
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unspecified
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Assessment methods and criteria
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Final project
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Recommended literature
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Assmann, Stephanie. (2010). Japanese foodways, Past and Present. Chicago.
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Bestor, Theodor. (2008). Tsukiji. The fish market at the center of the world. Berkeley.
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Farrer and Wank. The Global Japanese Restaurant: Mobilities, Imaginaries and Politics. Hawaii. 2023.
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