by Tadahiro Nakamura and Hinata Takemoto

In May 2024, students from Seikei University and FU Berlin met for online interviews about food culture and everyday eating practices in Japan. While the experiences of the Berlin students were summarized in the previous blog post, two students from Seikei University report on their experiences in this blog post.

Tadahiro wrote:

First of all, I would like to thank my interviewers, Sarah and Michelle, Prof. Reiher, and Prof. Kawamura for giving me such a wonderful opportunity. I was delighted to talk with German students online. It was particularly interesting to learn about the difference between westernized Japanese food and Japanese food which we enjoy in our everyday life.The interview was conducted in Japanese, so that I could relax and answer the questions. When I was asked about how we appreciate foreign cuisines in our daily life, I realized that Japanese people like to have international cuisines such as Italian, Chinese, Korean, Spanish, Thai, and so on, both outside and at home. Moreover, here in Japan, the ingredients and flavors of such international cuisines are often “Japanized” to make such dishes easier to cook and taste. Sarah told me about the time when she ate foreign food in Japan that was not the same as the authentic food, but it was tasty. I found out that the same thing happens when Japanese food is exported. The case of California rolls is typical. Throughout the interview, I realized that the world is closely intertwined with food culture. The recipes, seasonings, and preparation methods are not necessarily the same, but they keep their “originality” and are accepted in the respective country. My speculation is that globalization and its consequences such as immigration and other social trends are creating this mechanism.

Hinata wrote:

I am very grateful to have taken part in this interview project. I had a valuable experience with my interviewer, Richard. It was pleasant to talk with a foreign student studying Japanese language and culture. Even when I mentioned the name of a Japanese food that is not well known to foreigners, he knew it. I was impressed by the fact that he has a strong appreciation of Japan. He was well prepared for the interview, so we were able to communicate easily. I was originally supposed to be interviewed by two students, but it turned out to be a one-to-one interview. Nevertheless, Richard and I had a great time together. He also made me happy by noticing my slight reference to Japanese anime in the interview, and we have kept in touch since the online session. From this autumn I will be studying in Scotland on an exchange program. While I am in Europe, I would like to visit Germany and meet him in person. Thank you again for this wonderful opportunity!

by Cosmo H.

As Professor Reiher’s methods course “Berlin’s Japanese Foodscape” was open to Bachelor students this semester, we had the opportunity to participate in the annual interviews with students from Seikei University. In the interviews we talked about our interview partners’ perception of Japanese food both in- and outside Japan and various aspects of Japanese cuisine that we only had limited knowledge of. This provided us with valuable insights into their perception of Japanese food and, to an extent, how German food is perceived in Japan.

As we had discussed questions in advance, we had a general sense of direction for the interview. The interview itself went smoothly, with only minor delays in our connection with Tokyo. Previous interview experience proved beneficial, as we tried to make our interview partner feel comfortable and willing to speak freely. We doubled our initial six broad questions over the course of the interview, gaining insights into our interview partner’s daily food routines and learned how his upbringing in northern Japan shaped his perception of a traditional Japanese breakfast. As our interview partner was affected by the travel ban inflicted upon Japanese students in light of the Covid-19 pandemic right before he wanted to study abroad, we could not talk so much about how Japanese food outside Japan differs from Japanese food in Japan. But instead, we discussed about his perception of European food across different regions.

Our main takeaway for future online interviews is to always let the speaker finish their thoughts, especially in a group setting. There were multiple instances where everyone wanted to get a word in on the subject in question, resulting in somewhat awkward moments. We were fortunate to have such a cooperative interview partner, but definitely will not take this for granted and recognize our need for improvement in this area. Finally, we would like to thank both Professor Reiher and Professor Kawamura for granting us this opportunity, as well as our interview partner for agreeing to participate. This course provided us with valuable insights into research methods that we would typically only encounter later in our studies. We hope more students can benefit from such classes in the future.

* Cosmo H. is a student in FU Berlin’s Japanese Studies BA program