von Olivia Kühnemann

Im Rahmen des Seminars Methoden und Arbeitstechniken der Sozialwissenschaften der Japanologie führten wir teilnehmende Beobachtungen in einem japanischen Restaurant auf der Kantstraße durch. Meine letzte Japanreise war noch nicht lange her und ich sehnte mich nach dem Genuss japanischer Küche. Es war für mich außerdem der erste Besuch in diesem Lokal und so betrat ich neugierig und erwartungsvoll gemeinsam mit meinen beiden Kommilitonen das Restaurant. Schon beim Betreten wehte uns eine angenehme kühle Brise einer Klimaanlage entgegen, die an diesem heißen Sommertag äußerst willkommen war. Die japanische Einrichtung fiel mir direkt ins Auge: viele Holzelemente, japanische ukiyo-e und die gedämpfte Beleuchtung schufen eine ruhige und einladende Stimmung. Gemeinsam mit meinen Kommilitonen fanden wir uns an einem Tisch im hinteren Bereich des Restaurants wieder und legten unsere Notizbücher auf dem Tisch ab. In Ruhe betrachteten wir die Einrichtung des Etablissements und blätterten das lange Menü durch. Das Speiseangebot war sehr vielfältig, u.a. wurden sashimi, sushi, rāmen, teishoku, karaage, gyōza, udon und vereinzelte vegetarische Gerichte angeboten. Wir bestellten alle drei unterschiedliche Gerichte.

Exkursion in ein japanisches Restaurant auf der Kantstraße
Copyright © Olivia Kühnemann 2023

Ich entschied mich für ein vegetarisches Gericht. Während wir auf das Essen warteten, hatten wir genügend Zeit das Geschehen zu beobachten. Wie auch der Eingangsbereich des Restaurants war auch der hinterer Raum mit zahlreichen japanischen Bildern und Elementen dekoriert. Neben den anfangs erwähnten ukiyo-e fanden sich hier auch ein japanischer Schirm und eine Nō-Theater- Maske. Mir fiel die leise angenehme Jazz Musik auf, die im Hintergrund lief. Die Interaktionen zwischen dem Personal waren aufgrund unserer Platzwahl im hinteren Bereich des Restaurants nur schlecht zu beobachten. Meine Kommilitonen und ich machten uns eifrig Notizen. Zwischendurch konnten wir die Bedienung beobachten, die von unserem Handeln ein wenig irritiert zu sein schien. Vermutlich hielt sie uns für Restaurant-Kritiker.

Nach einiger Zeit wurde unser Essen serviert. Mein kushikatsu bentō wurde auf einem Tablett in unterschiedlichen Schüsseln und Behältern präsentiert. Das frittierte Gemüse war in einer Kammer einer viereckigen Box. In den beiden anderen Kammern waren Salat und eingelegtes Gemüse. Zusätzlich gab es eine Schale mit Miso-Suppe und eine Schale mit weißem Reis. Während wir aßen, erschienen weitere Kunden, darunter eine größere Gruppe, die sich an einen Tisch gegenüber von uns setzten. Neben dieser Gruppe saßen im hinteren Bereich zwei Paare, die jeweils Sushi und Bentō Boxen aßen.

Im Vergleich zu einer Beobachtung allein, erregten wir als Gruppe deutlich mehr Aufmerksamkeit, so dass wir von der Bedienung ein wenig mit Skepsis wahrgenommen wurden. Jedoch hatten wir auf diese Möglichkeiten und auszutauschen und auf verschiedene Dinge aufmerksam zu machen. Die teilnehmende Beobachtung in der Rolle des Gastes bereitete mit großer Freude und ich bin sehr dankbar für diese Erfahrung. Ich bin bereits gespannt auf die nächste Beobachtung im Rahmen des Abschlussprojekts.

*Olivia Kühnemann studiert im Masterstudiengang Japanologie an der Freien Universität Berlin.

by Cornelia Reiher

On a hot Friday afternoon in June, we visited a restaurant run by a Japanese chef. When we arrived, the outdoor area in front of the restaurant was full of people enjoying a late lunch. We took a seat inside, and while Machiko, the chef, was still busy preparing the food, we had the opportunity to look around and check out the menu. Located in a movie theater, Machiko offers lunch on weekdays, but serves not only Japanese dishes such as sakedon, sushi or udon, but also bibimpap. Except for the sakedon, all dishes are vegan or have a vegan option.

When things quieted down, Machiko sat down with us and we began with the interview. We had successfully established an Internet connection so that one of the students could join in from Tokyo. The students had prepared questions for Machiko in Japanese and were a bit nervous in advance. The interview focused on Machiko’s migration experience, her professional background and her idea of Japanese food, her customers, ingredients and experiences during the Covid pandemic. We learned that she was trained as a chef in Japan and mainly prepared kaiseki ryōri back then. She really likes fusion cuisine as long as it respects Japanese cuisine. She is convinced that her training allows her to prepare the dishes she now offers. For the lunch she serves, the most important criteria are that it can be served quickly, tastes delicious and is reasonably priced.

The conversation was very interesting and went well. Machiko’s positive attitude and charisma was very motivating and reassuring, so small difficulties with the Japanese language were no problem. After the interview, we ordered a few more dishes to reward ourselves before the kitchen closed. During the hour we spent inside for the interview, most of the guests had already left and the staff had already started cleaning up. Visiting the restaurant instead of conducting the interview online or at the university was not only convenient for Machiko, but also provided us with a lot of insight by being able to see the restaurant, experience the atmosphere and most importantly, eat the dishes offered. Thank you, Machiko, for your time!

by Mizuki Kubo*

First of all, thank you for giving me the opportunity to participate in an online interview with a student from Germany. I am very glad that I was able to participate in this project. My interviewer was Vanessa. At first, I was a little apprehensive about this interview, but she speaks Japanese very well. When I contacted her to schedule the interview, I could already tell from her messages that her Japanese is very good. So, I could relax and enjoy the conversation. I participated in the interview with another student from Seikei University. While answering questions about the kind of food we usually eat and how we think about Japanese restaurants abroad, I was surprised to find that there are differences even among Japanese people. In particular, the way we think about eating abroad was very different. That was fascinating! As I got used to the conversation, I was also able to ask Vanessa questions and expand the conversation. I found out that she was interested in Japanese anime and pop culture, and we talked a bit about anime as well. I was very happy that I could talk about Japanese culture with a foreigner for the first time. So, this interview was a valuable experience for me. I was very glad that I could exchange ideas with Vanessa, even if it was only online. I would love to talk to her again another time. Thank you very much for reading this post!

Students from Seikei University who participated in the online interviews with students from Freie Universität Berlin
Copyright © Yoko Kawamura 2023

* Mizuki Kubo is a student at Seikei University.

by Jonas John and Zihang Yu*

In the course „Social Science Research Methods in Japanese Studies“ taught by Professor Cornelia Reiher, we learn methods and research techniques so that we can later successfully complete our master’s thesis. This includes e.g. techniques to narrow down our research topics, but also interview techniques.  We will try out these new techniques in the course on our own project about Japanese food in Berlin. To learn how to conduct interviews, we conducted interviews with students at Seikei University in Tokyo on the topics of food, Japanese restaurants in Japan and abroad, and Japanese cuisine in general. The interviews lasted about half an hour. Interviewees spoke very openly about their experiences, although in some cases it was difficult to ask follow-up questions. This was partly due to the language barrier. In what follows, we will briefly present our experiences with these interviews and some results.

Before the interview began, we introduced ourselves and explained why we wanted to ask our questions in the first place. Then we asked if we could record the interview. Zihang learned that his interviewer has a very Japanese diet. His three meals a day all consist of white rice, Japanese dishes, and sometimes side dishes. Most of the time he eats at home, and when he does eat out, he tends to choose foreign dishes, such as Korean and Chinese food. He and, in his opinion, many other Japanese are proud of Japanese cuisine and washoku. However, the exact definition of washoku is somewhat vague, and it is unclear to him what dishes are included. When Zihang asked about Japanese restaurants abroad, he replied that he has not yet been abroad and that he believes Japanese restaurants abroad should serve authentic Japanese cuisine, not inauthentic dishes prepared by foreign chefs, even if they cost more. The Japanese restaurant should ensure that Japanese food culture is not ridiculed and that foreigners feel like learning more about Japanese food culture or visiting Japan after eating.

What was particularly striking about Jonas’ interlocutor’s answers was that she prefers Western cuisine to Japanese cuisine, although or perhaps precisely because she eats rice at least once a day and therefore foreign food is something special in this respect. She thinks that most Japanese also behave in this way and usually cook Japanese food themselves in everyday life. Still, in her estimation, there are more national than foreign food options in Tokyo (unlike in cities like Berlin). She distinguishes these Japanese restaurants into family restaurants that offer a variety of inexpensive dishes and expensive high-end restaurants that specialize in one dish. While the concept of washoku plays a major role in upscale cuisine, she would like to see it in family restaurants as well, but does not usually expect washoku dishes there. Since the emphasis here is primarily on chef experience and specialization, it can be inferred that she understands washoku to mean „diligence,“ „perfection,“ and „expertise.“  When asked directly about the meaning, she said that washoku can also mean creative cuisine or dishes that are not „traditional“. She believes that many Japanese associate washoku with family meals, so it is not strictly tied to formality. However, this differs from the image of washoku in upscale kitchens presented earlier.

After we had asked our interview partners all our questions, we asked if there were still things we had not mentioned but which seemed important to them and if they might have any questions for us. We then continued to speak in German and Japanese and ended the conversation In summary, we would say that the interview was quite successful as we were able to acquire new knowledge and skills about interviewing. Due to the small age difference and the fact that we are all students, the interview was conducted in a fairly relaxed atmosphere. The language barrier was a bit of a problem in some cases, but we managed it well. We would like to thank Professor Cornelia Reiher and Professor Yoko Kawamura for giving us the opportunity to exchange with students from Seikei University and for organizing the interviews. We would also like to thank the students from Seikei University who participated in the interviews.

* Jonas John and Zihang Yu are students in the MA program in Japanese Studies at Freie Universität Berlin.

by Cornelia Reiher

In early June, our course took its first field trip and traveled to Friedrichshain to visit a sake store in Berlin. We had made an appointment with Anselm, a sake sommelier who works at the store, for the first interview of the season. After about an hour, we arrived and were joined by another student online. Before the interview, we had thought of questions and assigned them to each of the students. Everyone was very excited to learn more about sake and test their interviewing skills.

When we arrived, Anselm was waiting for us behind the counter and we had a moment to look at the beautiful wooden interior with shelves full of sake from different parts of Japan. In the center of the store were tables with sake cups, rice samples, and brochures that Anselm and the owner of the store use for sake tastings. We took seats around the table, presented a small omiyage, and had our recording devices, questions, notebooks, and pens ready. After the students introduced themselves, they took turns asking questions. During the conversation, Anselm not only answered all of our questions, but also showed us different sake bottles, explained the rice samples, printed out information about sake, and even offered sake for tasting.

We learned a lot about the different types of sake, the store’s customers, distribution channels, certifications and Anselm’s workflow. I was particularly surprised to learn that the store even has one type of sake that is made in Europe, although this is an exception as all other sake sold in the store is made in Japan. According to Anselm, the store’s owner has visited most of the sake breweries in Japan from which they source the sake they sell. Because of the covid pandemic, Anselm has not yet had the opportunity to visit them himself. But although most of their business customers are restaurants, the store has weathered the pandemic well thanks to an online store. However, many activities such as sake tastings, customer visits, and participation in festivals and fairs resumed only last year.

After the interview, we decided to go to a Japanese restaurant. After a short walk through Friedrichshain, we visited a Vietnamese-owned Japanese restaurant that offers curry rice (also in vegan and vegetarian versions) and enjoyed a meal together. After the interview and sake tasting, we had many new insights and impressions to share and also talked about our experiences with sake in Japan, our favorite Japanese food and upcoming trips to Japan. This was not only a great opportunity to talk about Japanese food and the course, but also for the students to get to know each other better and share valuable tips about studying in Japan.

by Cornelia Reiher

The first few weeks of the semester are already over and summer is just around the corner in Berlin. Students have been thinking about their semester projects and came up with first ideas. One group will study the role of restaurant certification on chefs’ everyday practices in Japanese restaurants and the other will compare rāmen in Tokyo and Berlin, as one of the students joins us online from Tokyo. In the meantime, students have conducted interviews with students from Seikei University and I am preparing field trips and have been on the lookout for interview partners for our course.

That’s one of the reasons I visited the „Japanese Market“ (Japanmarkt) in Berlin this weekend. It was a sunny Sunday afternoon when I joined crowds of people of all ages to check out the food stalls, the stage program and the various other stalls selling handicrafts, pop culture and other Japanese things. There was a wide variety of food and drink on offer, ranging from sweets like taiyaki to savory street food like takoyaki. In addition to sake tastings, there were also workshops and demonstrations showcasing taiko, shodō and kendō. Even many of the craft and design products on display were inspired by Japanese food and drink.

It was very interesting to see how many different Japanese foods were sold and – judging from the long lines in front of each stall – how popular they were. I discovered stalls of some new Japanese restaurants and was happy to meet old friends from Japanese restaurants selling curry rice or onigiri at the market. I also discovered new vegan onigiri varieties with vegan „meatless“ yakiniku and had the opportunity to buy nihonshu to take home. With the sound of taiko drums in my ears, the smell of yakitori in my nose and the sight of happy people and beautiful weather, I left the market in a good mood, but still with a little longing for Japan. It was a very exciting event that once again showed the great popularity of Japanese culture and especially Japanese food in Berlin.

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!

by Cornelia Reiher

After the 3.11 triple disaster of tsunami, earthquake and Fukushima nuclear disaster, many Japanese from northern Japan, as well as the greater Kanto area, relocated to other, often rural, areas in western Japan. Some even left the country and moved abroad. In recent years, I have met a number of Japanese women who are involved in Berlin’s Japanese foodscape and cite the Fukushima nuclear disaster as the main reason for their migration from Japan. They are particularly health conscious and interested in food safety and organic food.

Japanese food with local ingredients in reusable containers
Copyright © Cornelia Reiher 2021

I would like to introduce a Japanese woman who came to Berlin in 2012 because she was disappointed by the lack of opportunities for political participation in Japan after having participated in many anti-nuclear demonstrations. Although she had no previous connection to Germany, she came to Berlin because she was attracted by then-Chancellor Merkel’s decision to shut down all nuclear power plants in Germany. She started a catering service and cooked for events in the city’s hip and young start-up scene and the art world. During the pandemic, she had to turn her business into a delivery service because no events could take place. As sustainability is important to her, she tries to avoid plastic waste and does not use plastic containers for her delivery and catering service, but reusable containers. Since coming to Berlin, she has been interested in vegetarian and vegan foodways and recently became a vegan herself. She shares her thoughts and experiences with vegan food in Berlin and actively engages with Japanese vegan activists on the internet, contributing to online vegan magazines in Japan to spread her vision of veganism and sustainable food.

Enjoying farm life with chickens …
Copyright © Cornelia Reiher 2022

During our conversations, she told me about her dream of moving to the countryside and farming there for a while. And that’s what she’s done, recently joining an organic farming community in the countryside near Berlin. She describes her new life as very simple and quiet and seems to enjoy living in the middle of nature. To earn a living, she processes farm produce from this same farm and delivers it by mail to Berlin. All vegetables are fresh, organic, seasonal and unpackaged. She makes pickled vegetables, syrups, jams and pastes with Japanese ingredients. She also continues her catering business and cooks at events on the farm, in the surrounding area or in Berlin. By living and working on the farm, she discovers new tastes, recipes and edible plants and shares her discoveries with others through her cooking and social media.

… and horses in the countryside near Berlin.
Copyright © Cornelia Reiher 2022

By living on the farm, which she describes as an anarchist and feminist collective with nearly 20 members, she continues her food activism. She was already politically active in Japan when she joined the anti-nuclear movement after the Fukushima nuclear disaster and continued to participate in anti-nuclear rallies in Berlin. Sustainable food and biodiversity are important to her for personal reasons, as she learned firsthand how a particular variety of corn she liked in her childhood became extinct in Japan. At the farm, she learns more about sustainable and organic agriculture, debates and activism related to land rights and commons, and participates in collective actions and food events. Moving to the countryside allowed her to connect with like-minded people, explore new issues, and participate in activities that support her ideas about good and sustainable food and foodways.

by Cornelia Reiher

This blog is mostly about Japanese restaurants in Berlin, but since a Japanese-style cafeteria opened at our own university in December 2022, this post will feature Shokudō Cafeteria (shokudō means cafeteria in Japanese), which is inspired by Japan and offers fusion cuisine. It is located very close to the Institute of Japanese Studies and is in the same building as the former vegetarian cafeteria. So it still offers vegetarian and vegan dishes, but in a Japanese way. Although most Japanese dishes include dashi, a Japanese fish broth, all dishes are actually vegetarian or even vegan, according to the staff.

Koi and Mount Fuji adorn the walls of the new Shokudō cafeteria
Copyright © Cornelia Reiher 2022

When I visited the new cafeteria for the first time with my colleagues, I was surprised at how much the place had changed. The interior design is heavily based on Japanese motifs, including a mural of Mount Fuji, koi, and pine trees. In one part of the cafeteria, there is a zashiki dining area, where customers sit on cushions on a platform with a tatami-like rug and eat from low tables. In Japan, this also means taking off your shoes before stepping onto the tatami mats, and most students do this, but not all are familiar with this custom. There are also regular tables, but the zashiki dining area is very popular, and we were lucky to find a seat. People seem to enjoy this different way of eating and also use it as a place to rest, chat with friends, or do their homework.

Dining under pine trees and eating noodle soup with chopsticks
Copyright © Cornelia Reiher 2023

The food includes existing Japanese dishes such as different types of maki sushi, gyōza, rice or noodles like rāmen and udon, but also their own inventions like edamame burger or pumpkin gratin with edamame. Sometimes regular dishes are simply renamed to seem more Japanese, or an ingredient typical of Japan is added, such as pumpkin soup with soy sauce. While the salad bar is mostly unchanged except for the addition of wasabi dressing and kimchi, desserts are also inspired by Japanese food culture and often include matcha or sesame seeds, such as chocolate mousse with matcha. Because the cafeteria serves a large number of people every day and must offer vegetarian or vegan dishes at a reasonable price, the ingredients are quite different from those used for the same dishes in Japan. However, compared to the average cafeteria experience, the food was nice.

Rāmen, edamame burger and maki sushi are examples of the food served at Shokudō
Copyright © Cornelia Reiher 2023

More than the food itself, the experience of eating with chopsticks, sitting on the tatami-like floor, and talking about the Japanese interior was a nice change from my usual lunch break. Still, many questions remain, such as: Why was Japanese food chosen as a theme for this cafeteria over all other popular Asian cuisines? Why was the interior designed this way and what do students think of this new cafeteria? How many different dishes can this cafeteria offer in the long run, or will it mainly offer noodle soup and sushi? I am looking forward to the course in the summer semester on Berlin’s Japanese foodscape and will definitely explore these and other questions with our students.

by Cornelia Reiher

Over the years I have interviewed many people who work in Berlin’s Japanese foodscape. Most of them are Japanese and many did not come to Berlin to open a Japanese eatery or to work in one. The reasons for moving to Berlin and the life stories of Japanese men and women who own, cook or serve in Japanese eateries in Berlin are diverse. Few are trained chefs and even fewer had originally planned to work in or open a Japanese restaurant in Germany. What struck me is that many of my research participants came to Berlin to study art, work as artists or pursue a career in fashion or the music industry. Another interesting observation is that Berlin was often not their first place of residence abroad, but many had lived in other places like London, Paris or New York before coming to Berlin. In this post, I will introduce people who moved to Berlin to study or perform art and began to work in Berlin’s Japanese foodscape for various reasons, with diverse goals and for different periods of time.

Many of the Japanese cooks, restaurant owners, pastry chefs or service staff in Berlin’s Japanese eateries are (former) musicians, painters, dancers, designers, make-up artists or tailors. A Japanese waitress I interviewed this year came to Berlin to take dance lessons and look for a job as a dancer. She was interested in the work of Japanese artists living in Berlin and visited the city for a week in 2017 before moving here on a working holiday visa in 2022. She had previously lived in London, then returned to Japan during the covid pandemic, and when she finally decided to move to Berlin, the Japanese artists she already knew helped her find a place to live. To earn a living, she works as a waitress in a Japanese restaurant. She found the job through MixB (Mix Board Classified), a Japanese-language classifieds website in Germany that many Japanese restaurants use to post jobs. She had already worked in restaurants in Japan and the UK and perceives her job as a way to earn money, but also enjoys working and socializing with other Japanese people and learning more about Japanese cuisine.

A Japanese man I interviewed this year cooks in a popular Japanese restaurant. He is a painter and attended an art school in Japan.  When he came to Berlin in 2019, it was his first time living abroad and he didn’t know German. His motivation to live in Europe was his interest in art. He wanted to visit museums and exhibitions and would have preferred to go to France or the United Kingdom, but the cost of living in Germany was lower. He applied for a working holiday visa, and when he arrived in Germany, he first took a language course. He also found a job and a shared apartment through MixB and began working in a restaurant on a working holiday visa although he had no previous experience working in a restaurant. But he was trained on the job and after two years now trains others. After the visa expired, his boss applied for a work visa and he now works five days a week, but wishes he had more time to paint. Working in a Japanese restaurant pays the bills, but he would rather have more time for his art.

While the two people I have introduced above try to find a balance between their jobs in the Japanese foodscape and their own artistic ambitions, there are also Japanese artists who have found a new profession in gastronomy. After a career as a musician or dancer, they have opened a restaurant or café and run it full-time. Some of these artists have completed additional training as chefs or pastry chefs in Japan, France or Germany. The different careers of Japanese artists in Berlin who work in a restaurant to finance their studies or artistic ambitions vary in terms of duration and outcome. While some stay in Berlin for only six months and then return to Japan, others stay permanently and a part-time job in a restaurant becomes a full-time job, while others give up art as a profession and start their own restaurants or cafes. In summary, the experiences of Japanese working in Berlin’s Japanese food landscape are diverse, and examining the relationship between the life course of Japanese migrants in Berlin and the city’s Japanese foodscape is an interesting endeavor to understand the city’s culinary dynamics.