Devouring Japan: Global Perspectives on Japanese Culinary Identity

by Nancy K. Stalker (Editor)

In recent years Japan's cuisine, or washoku, has been eclipsing that of France as the world's most desirable food. UNESCO recognized washoku as an intangible cultural treasure in 2013 and Tokyo boasts more Michelin-starred restaurants than Paris and New York combined. International enthusiasm for Japanese food is not limited to haute cuisine; it also encompasses comfort foods like ramen, which has reached cult status in the U.S. and many world capitals. Together with anime, pop music, fashion, and cute goods, cuisine is part of the "Cool Japan" brand that promotes the country as a new kind of cultural superpower.

This collection of essays offers original insights into many different aspects of Japanese culinary history and practice, from the evolution and characteristics of particular foodstuffs to their representation in literature and film, to the role of foods in individual, regional, and national identity. It features contributions by both noted Japan specialists and experts in food history.

The authors collectively pose the question "what is washoku?" What culinary values are imposed or implied by this term? Which elements of Japanese cuisine are most visible in the global gourmet landscape and why? Essays from a variety of disciplinary perspectives interrogate how foodways have come to represent aspects of a "unique" Japanese identity and are infused with official and unofficial ideologies. They reveal how Japanese culinary values and choices, past and present, reflect beliefs about gender, class, and race; how they are represented in mass media; and how they are interpreted by state and non-state actors, at home and abroad. They examine the thoughts, actions, and motives of those who produce, consume, promote, and represent Japanese foods.

370 pages, Hardcover

Published April 24, 2018

Reviews

[Mish Haddad · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book; quite a few of the chapters are entertaining, informative and raise interesting discussion issues. Some chapters I could skip. Overall I think it’s a good read for a deeper and broader view of the subject of food in Japan.

[Ad · Rating 5 out of 5]

In 2013 UNESCO recognized Japanese cuisine (washoku) as an Intangible Cultural Heritage and to commemorate that award, a conference on Japanese cuisine and foodways was held the next year at the University of Texas at Austin. This book is a collection of 17 essays written for that event. It is divided into the following sections:
- "historical culinary identities", 4 essays; I especially liked the essay on sake appreciation in the West by Dick Stegewerns;
- "culinary nationalism and branding", 3 essays; I like the article on potter and gourmet Rosanjin as "the root of Japanese gourmet nationalism;"
- "regional and international variations", 3 essays, including one about "the Kyoto brand;"
- "food and individual identity", 3 essays; with articles on Masaoka Shiki's poems on food, as well as Hayashi Fumiko's food narratives and the films Naruse Mikio based on them;
- "food anxieties", 4 essays; featuring for example another gourmet writer, Kaiko Takeshi, as well as a treatment of Miyayazaki Haruo's anime film "Spirited Away."
The book closes with an afterword by Eric C. Rath.

In short, there is a great variety among these essays written by food historians and Japan experts, and the reader will find many original insights into Japanese culinary history, practice, and food-related values.

[Avi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hit and miss. Mostly miss. Some of these essays were terribly written. I loved the one on Rosanjin though.

[Noah Beshara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid essays on food and culture