by Christoph Barann

This year, our class conducted interviews with Japanese university students about food as part of the master’s seminar on methodology and fieldwork in an annual cooperation with Seikei University in Tokyo. The class this year was open not only to students on the Master’s program in Japanese Studies, but also to students on the Master’s program in Global East Asia, which meant that some of the participants could not speak Japanese. Nevertheless, the division of labor within the groups went smoothly, as those who did not speak Japanese helped prepare the questions in advance and acted as observers during the interview, focusing on nonverbal aspects like body language and tone of voice.

The interviews were helpful as most of my classmates did not possess previous experience with interviewing native Japanese speakers. It was further useful in giving us an opportunity to conduct digital interviews through platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Experiencing possible obstructions, such as connectivity issues, with these digital interviews will be helpful in future situations.

We also learned through the interviews and later discussions within our class about specific things to consider in interviews. One of these aspects is the idea of starting off with simple questions that might engage the interviewee and to keep in mind a prepared structure to the interview while still allowing for open and developing discussion. The interviews as well as the prior preparation later group discussion were valuable experiences which helped us gain a deeper inside in the aspects which influence the efficiency of interviews. I would recommend the class to other students who are intending on conducting field work and qualitative research in and about Japan in the future.