by Haru Yokota and Haruna Usui

In May 2026, students from Seikei University and FU Berlin met again for online interviews about food culture and everyday eating practices in Japan again. This collaboration started during the COVID-19 pandemic and we have arranged for our students to meet online every year since then. Thank you, Yoko Kawamura for this wonderful collaboration! In this post, two students from Seikei University report on their experiences.

Haru wrote:

As I don’t have much exposure to Germany or German culture, I was really looking forward to talking with my partner. The interview was conducted in Japanese and took place in a fun and relaxed atmosphere. We talked about our eating habits, Japanese cuisine abroad and foreign cuisine in Japan. In particular, we discussed the definitions of “authentic” and “fusion” cuisines. I’m interested in cuisines from around the world, but I used to find fusion cuisine was a bit of a challenge because it is adapted and differs from what’s actually eaten overseas.

Through the interview, however, I realized that even in Japan, dishes such as curry and mapo tofu have been adapted to suit Japanese tastes, and could therefore also be considered fusion cuisine. Conversely, one example of Japanese fusion cuisine found overseas is the California roll, a type of sushi that originated in the United States. Initially, I viewed this negatively, considering it to be inauthentic Japanese cuisine. However, I realized that adapting dishes for the local population has a positive aspect in that it helps spread Japanese cuisine around the world. I thought that my favorite dish, curry, might be seen as a “California roll” to Indians.

This interview gave me an opportunity to reflect on my own definition of “authentic” cuisine and on the global spread of food culture.

I am grateful for this interview, which has provided me with new insights, and to the teachers who helped facilitate this connection.

Haruna wrote:

First and foremost, I am very grateful for this precious opportunity. As a student who is interested in and studying intercultural communication, this project, which allowed me to connect in real time with a university student living in Germany, was incredibly fascinating to me. Since my partner had experience studying abroad in Japan, we conducted our entire conversation in Japanese. Although we had exchanged emails to set up the date and time, I was initially nervous because it was our first time seeing each other face-to-face. However, she was smiling the whole time and listened to me while nodding along, which helped me relax and truly enjoy the conversation.

The theme of our discussion was Japanese food culture. We exchanged a lot of opinions on topics ranging from small-scale to large-scale, including the characteristics of Japanese food culture, comparisons with other countries, and the presence of Japanese food abroad. Throughout the conversation, three main things stood out to me. First, I realized how deeply my partner understands and loves Japanese food culture. Second, although Japanese cuisine has been highly popular lately, it might not be as widespread abroad compared to other countries’ cuisines. Lastly, I realized that despite being Japanese, I still do not fully understand my own country’s food culture. During the interview, my interview partner asked me very detailed questions about it, and I felt that there were few answers I could give with absolute confidence. Especially now, when Japanese food culture is attracting so much global attention, I strongly feel the importance of reexamining our very own culture. Being exposed to an outside perspective made me appreciate the value of daily “washoku”, which I had taken for granted. Moving forward, I want to properly understand its profound appeal myself and confidently pass it on to the next generation and the rest of the world.

In conclusion, although it may be repetitive, I would like to express my gratitude for being given such an opportunity. Being able to interact with someone who has a different perspective from mine in Japanese was a highly valuable experience full of various insights and inspiration. It was also a wonderful opportunity to experience the depth of language-based communication. Building on this experience, I hope to continue deepening my learning with an even broader perspective. Thank you very much.

by Ahmad Kasbah

In May of this year, we – that is, students of East Asian Studies at Freie Universität Berlin – had the pleasure of conducting online interviews with students from Seikei University in Tokyo. For most of us, this was our first opportunity to gain firsthand experience interviewing someone while struggling with a language barrier. Some of us knew no Japanese, while others knew some. Surprisingly, we were able to conduct some interviews completely in Japanese.

So, what exactly did we do? Let’s start with the topic: Food.

We were tasked with picking interview partners from another part of the world and interviewing them about their experiences with Japanese food culture and trends. After deciding in the seminar who would interview whom, we reached out to our future interview partners via email. We quickly arranged online meetings and prepared interview questions in advance.

The difficult part came afterwards: the interviews. Since not all of us spoke Japanese, we had a wide range of experiences. Some mixed English with a desperate attempt at sign language, some stuck to English, and a few just talked in Japanese. This hands-on method of collecting qualitative data was helpful in various ways since interviewing peers of a similar age is much more enjoyable and casual than a strict or serious first interview. After the interviews, we followed Japanese tradition and thanked our interview partners for their time via email.

Some time later, we received feedback on the interviews from the students in Japan. Surprisingly, they were also very happy with how we used their time. They added that the interviews were valuable to them on a human and cultural level, pointing out that the questions we asked about food sparked their curiosity about why things are the way they are in Japanese food culture.

Ultimately, we had the opportunity to conduct our interviews. More importantly, we were able to participate in a successful method of establishing intercultural connections and interactions from which both parties derived satisfaction.

Ahmad Kasbah is a student in the MA program Japanese Studies at Freie Universität Berlin