by Julia Mąkosa, Julia Marchlik, Mariia Safonova and Mohammad Ali Mojtahedi

As part of our research project on the regional representation of Chinese cuisine in Berlin, we set out to conduct interviews with restaurant owners to understand the stories behind the menus. Yesterday, our group conducted its first field interview as part of our project and it turned out to be far more personal, insightful, and moving than we first expected.

After several weeks of coordinating and trying to schedule the meeting, we finally sat down with the owner of a Chinese restaurant located in Kreuzberg district. Even before the interview began, we had already learned that arranging interviews is not an easy or quick process and we were really stressed before the actual meeting. The restaurant was closed that day so we managed to get a 1:1 meeting with the owner which was really nice for the interview but also limited us in observing the environment and customers. Since it was our first interview without a professor’s guidance, we were initially nervous. But as the conversation progressed, the atmosphere became warmer, and the owner seemed genuinely happy to share his experiences.

At first, based on the restaurant’s website and social media presence, we had a certain image of the place: a regional Chinese restaurant specializing in the cuisine of a specific area. But the moment the owner started speaking, that assumption began to shift. We discovered that the restaurant’s name wasn’t simply chosen to reflect its menu. Instead, it was deeply rooted in the personal history and identity of the owner. While he was born and raised in Germany, his parents had emigrated from a village in China and the restaurant’s name was a tribute to that place. For us, it was an unexpected and valuable moment: we realized that a restaurant’s identity isn’t always tied strictly to regional menus. Sometimes, it’s more about the owner and their passions, goals or dreams.

Although the owner was born and raised in Germany and speaks native German, he shared that opening a restaurant in Berlin is still a challenge even for someone with local experience, let alone foreigners. Before this project, he had already worked in the restaurant industry, so it was easier for him to start a noodle business in Berlin and expand to other locations. He chose to focus on hand-pulled noodles, simply because they have been his favorite childhood dish. The menu is built around that passion, and every item reflects something meaningful to him.

At the same time, he spoke about the difficulty of staying fully “authentic.” Traditional Chinese food can often be very spicy or oily, which doesn’t always appeal to a broader audience in Berlin. So, he decided to offer two versions of his noodle dishes: one that stays true to the original, with a richer, spicier broth which he enjoys, and another that is more adapted – still flavorful, but a bit lighter and easier to enjoy for those unfamiliar with the cuisine. Instead of offering a wide range of options, he prefers to keep the menu small and focused on the dishes that hold personal value for him.

He also shared his thoughts on creativity in the restaurant world. For him, it’s important that every chef finds their own voice. While it’s fine to be inspired by others, simply copying ideas is something he strongly avoids and disapproves of. When he opened his restaurant back in 2021, there were only a few places in Berlin serving this type of Chinese food. Today, there are many more, which, in his view, shows how open-minded and curious Berliners are when it comes to trying new things. Interestingly, most of his customers are not Chinese, but rather international

tourists and local Berliners. His story reminded us that authenticity doesn’t always mean following a tradition exactly. Sometimes, it means creating something new with traditional roots.

We all felt that the interview has given us a lot of information and insight for our project. Firstly, we now know how important early outreach is, even just setting up a single interview can take weeks. Secondly, preparing and sharing questions in advance really made a difference. The owner came prepared, which led to richer answers and a much more engaging dialogue than a spontaneous Q&A might have produced.

Knowing this, we aim to conduct more interviews during the course of our research project which we hope will be as smooth and as informative as this one. For our first interview, we think it went really well and encouraged us to do more.

Julia Mąkosa, Julia Marchlik, Mariia Safonova and Mohammad Ali Mojtahedi are students in the Master program Global East Asia at Freie Universität Berlin.

by Lena Danz and Lidia Gaspara Salvador

Even in our native language, interviews can be unpredictable. From formulating the right questions to building a good relationship with the interviewee to being able to react quickly, interviews require a combination of preparation, intuition, and self-confidence. Now imagine doing all of that in a foreign language. In academic fields such as Japanese studies, there are few opportunities to put these skills into practice, which makes it all the more exciting when such opportunities arise. We would like to take you on a journey and not only tell you about the interesting conversation we had with a Japanese student from Seikei University, but also give you insights into the planning and execution of our first interview in our third language, Japanese.

Balancing student life, club activities and work: A portrait of a 19-year-old student’s food practices

 

Our interview partner was a 19-year-old female student from Tokyo, who studies at Seikei University and lives with her parents, as is common among young Japanese. Commuting between home and university takes her about two hours each day. In addition to her studies, she’s an active member of the university’s tennis club, which meets twice a week, and works up to 15 hours weekly at a tutoring school. The student herself is not particularly interested in cooking and only prepares meals occasionally, as her mother is usually responsible for cooking at home.

At university, she usually buys food from the university’s convenience stores for breakfast and lunch, since the cafeteria is often too crowded. She usually opts for onigiri, Japanese rice balls shaped into triangles with various fillings wrapped in nori (seaweed), and karaage, deep-fried meat (usually chicken), vegetables, or fish coated in a fine batter. Although she sometimes brings home-cooked meals, these are usually prepared by her mother. At university, she eats with her classmates in the classroom and has dinner with her family at home. This is a common pattern for young people in Japan, as we have both noticed while spending time studying there.

Her favorite food is sushi, especially salmon and buri (sushi with Japanese yellowtail). Although she prefers Japanese cuisine, she also enjoys affordable Italian dishes at restaurants such as Saizeriya, which offers localized versions of Italian dishes. After tennis practice, she often goes out to eat with her club mates, her favorite restaurant being one that serves omurice (rice with creamy omelet, topped with ketchup). Although she finds eating out more expensive than cooking at home, she still does so quite often. As for alternative diets such as vegetarianism or veganism, she is aware of them, but they do not play a role in her everyday life. When asked, she recalls seeing plant-based milk alternatives at Starbucks, but has not noticed any vegan dishes in typical Japanese restaurants. We experienced this during our time in Japan as well—vegan options were rare, and it was often a challenge when vegan friends from Germany came to visit. It was interesting to see how different our perceptions are: as Europeans, we immediately notice the lack of such options, while she herself doesn’t pay attention to it.

Healthy eating is important to her, particularly consuming enough vegetables. Her favorite ingredients are miso and dashi, both staples of Japanese cooking. She has little experience with international versions of Japanese food, having only traveled abroad once for two weeks to London. While she saw Japanese food there in shopping malls, she didn’t try it. However, she’s open to exploring such variations in the future.

The interviewer’s perspective

Conducting an interview is always challenging, but doing so in a foreign language adds a whole new

layer of challenge. For our interview, we opted for a semi-structured format. This meant walking a fine line between preparing enough questions to guide the conversation and not overwhelming our interviewee or turning it into an interrogation. Our goal was to create a relaxed, open atmosphere in which genuine dialogue could take place. Preparing the questions was a process in its own right. We started with questions in either German or English, which we then translated into Japanese. Although translation tools can be useful for an initial draft, they often fail to capture cultural nuances. Concepts that are familiar to us might not translate well or be widely understood in Japan. We also had to research topic-specific vocabulary and terms that might seem obvious in our context, but which could require an explanation in another culture. A large part of the preparation involved reflecting on our own perspective. Being aware of our Eurocentric lens helped us reframe questions. In this regard, working as a group was an advantage. We could compare notes, help each other identify potential issues and give each other honest feedback.

In the interview, Lidia took on the role of the interviewer. Of course, no matter how well you prepare, interviews have their own rhythm. Even as an open, communicative person, interviewing a stranger presents unexpected challenges. You might have a rough plan for how the conversation should go, but it’s important to stay flexible. Asking too many follow-up questions for example can unintentionally shut down a shy or reserved interviewee. Rather than drawing them out, it  could cause them to retreat further. In our case, time turned out to be one of the key ingredients for a successful conversation. We conducted the interview online, which came with its own set of challenges. Technical hiccups caused delays and made it difficult to maintain a natural rhythm for the conversation. On top of that, our interviewee was sitting in a virtual room with three unfamiliar faces, which understandably made her a bit cautious at first. Her early responses were polite but brief, and it took some effort to move beyond surface-level answers.

To help her feel more at ease, Lidia tried to lighten the mood with a few jokes and shared some of my own experiences from Japan. That small shift in tone made a big difference. Slowly but surely, she began to open up, offering more thoughtful insights and speaking more freely. It reminded us that interviews are just as much about building trust as they are about asking the right questions. Sometimes, it’s those unscripted, human moments that truly bring a conversation to life.

The notetaker’s perspective

Taking notes during our interview with the student was both challenging and rewarding. As the designated note-taker, Lena focused on capturing the details of the answers while also observing how the conversation unfolded. At first, our interviewee seemed shy and gave very short responses, which made it harder to take notes. But as the interview progressed, she relaxed noticeably, especially thanks to Lidia’s friendly way of asking questions and sharing her own experiences. Lena was surprised how much our interviewee’s eating habits are shaped by her family and convenience culture in Japan. She rarely cooks for herself, as her mother prepares most meals at home. When she does eat outside, it’s usually at convenience stores near her university. Through her responses, Lena also got a clear picture of her busy life: she works part-time at a cram school and spends about an hour commuting to university each way. This helped Lena understand why convenience food plays such a big role for her.

Overall, writing notes helped Lena stay fully engaged and reflect on our interviewee’s answers in real time. It was fascinating to get such a personal glimpse into the daily life of a Japanese student. The interview also made us realize how much our cultural backgrounds influence how we think about food and health. Despite our differences, her openness and curiosity at the end made the conversation feel warm and genuine.

Lena Danz is a  a student in the Master program Global East Asia at Freie Universität Berlin. Lidia Salvador is a student in the Master program Japanese Studies at Freie Universität Berlin.