by Cornelia Reiher

Since last summer, the Covid pandemic has calmed down and Japan has reopened its borders to foreigners. As a result, I had the opportunity to travel to Japan twice for field research and to experience Japanese food in Japan after more than three years of studying and eating Japanese food only in Berlin. With fresh memories of the diversity of food and drink in Japan, I am very much looking forward to the eighth season of the methods course „Berlin’s Japanese Foodscaapes“ to study Japanese restaurants through visits and conversations with chefs and staff for hands-on methods training. This year, five MA students will design and conduct their own research projects on Japanese food in Berlin, and I am very excited to see the results.

We will be working with Seikei University again. Yoko Kawamura’s students will meet with our students online for their very first interview experience. FU students will interview students from Japan about their eating habits, experiences with foreign food in Japan and with Japanese food abroad. We will also invite guests for interviews, go on field trips, and hopefully enjoy lots of good Japanese food and learn more about the Japanese foodscape in Berlin and the people who make and sell Japanese food and beverages. Students will be developing their own projects over the next few weeks, so stay tuned for an update!