by Cornelia Reiher
While hopefully enjoying their semester break, participants of this course are currently working on their projects on various aspects of Berlin’s Japanese foodscapes. During the course, we did not only practice different methods of making and analyzing qualitative data, but students also created and planned their own research projects. Three teams work on projects about the labeling of Japanese food in Asia supermarkets and Japanese restaurants, the promotion of sake in Berlin’s izakaya and the impact of Japanese pop culture on the consumption of Japanese sweets in Berlin respectively.
Impression from one of the Go Asia supermarket branches in Berlin
Copyright © Ivan Kaira 2022
The project team exploring the labeling of Japanese food in Asia supermarkets and Japanese restaurants focuses on the labeling of vegan food and ingredients. Students will compare different types of labels and the availability of vegan options in Asian supermarkets and Japanese restaurants in different parts of Berlin to find out how retailers and restaurateurs deal with the growing demand for vegan Japanese food and dishes in Berlin. This group will present their findings in a video that will contain footage from interviews and visits to restaurants and supermarkets.
Decoration, menu and tonkatsu in different izakaya in Berlin
Copyright © Ioanna Moka, Olha Tkachuk, Leonie Uhl and Richard Weber 2022
Another team will investigate representations of and marketing strategies for sake in Berlin’s izakaya. The group has selected different izakaya with owners of different nationalities to interview to find out how they are promoting sake to their customers in Berlin. This also includes visits to izakaya to observe the drinking culture and atmosphere in these very popular places. The group plans to create a video to present their findings that will contain a general introduction to izakaya in Japan and Germany as well as footage from interviews and observation.
Japanese sweets in a Manga shop in Berlin and the two students in front of one of many places that sell Manga in Berlin
Copyright © Deniz Meral Ardic and Galina Khoikhina
The third team will inquire how Japanese sweets are linked to Japanese popular culture. As shops selling manga and other pop culture from Japan increasingly offer sweets and snacks from Japan, students have selected shops to interview owners and managers about how they select and market the products they are selling and to talk to customers about why they buy these sweets. This team will create a flipbook comic with their own artwork to present their results. This is a new format, so please stay tuned to check out the videos and the flipbook comic on this blog in October.