Sophia Magazine vol.7 / SUMMER 2018

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see the ethnic succession of waves of people learning to make Japanese food is Germany. In the 1950s, Koreans moved into Germany to work as nurses and coal miners. In the 1960s and 1970s, some of them sought to enter the restaurant business, but needed a new cuisine because no one was very interested in Korean food at the time. However, their chil-dren did not want to go into the business, so the Koreans trained Nepali immigrants, who are now prominent in cities like Hamburg. Recently I was in Hamburg and there were Afghanis who had learned Japanese food from the Nepalis. So you can see a transfer of Japanese food knowledge from Koreans to Nepalis to Afghanis. Given these waves all over the world, you can actually create a global map of migrants making Japanese food.”Professor Farrer says his interest in the soft power of Japanese food stems from his research on Shanghai and its booming Japanese cuisine scene. Despite some political dif-ferences with Japan, Chinese people are great fans of Japa-nese food. “There is a cumulative effect of things like food. Just eating in a Japanese restaurant won’t necessarily make you like Japan. But if you eat the food a lot, take a deeper interest and even start cooking it yourself, then naturally you are going to start thinking about other aspects of the culture and society in a more positive way.”One aspect of Japanese food that has translated into posi-tive perceptions of Japan is its culture of craftsmanship. “When people go to a Japanese restaurant, they want to ex-perience the Japanese attention to detail, service, and quality. While this won’t make Chinese people start to like Japanese politics, it creates admiration for these qualities of Japanese culture and society.” Japanese food does hold some potential for political goodwill. One of the biggest promoters of Japa-nese cuisine is the Norwegian aquaculture industry, since the country’s salmon is ubiquitous in sushi around the world. Just as enjoying Japanese food can lead to increased un-derstanding of Japanese culture, the reverse is true as well. Professor Farrer identifies city size and proximity to Japa-nese culture as the deciding factors for nuanced understand-ing of Japanese cuisine. “The mobility of food, chefs, ideas, and media is concentrated in the large cities. City inhabit-ants are relatively wealthy, educated, and well-traveled, and given that Japanese food is seen as high-end cuisine they are very familiar with its food culture. But proximity to Japanese culture is also important. Regardless of how sophisticated European cities are, they are far from Japan. While an Asian country such as Vietnam might be poorer, its people have a higher understanding of Japanese food than most Europe-ans and they can access better Japanese food.”Higher still is the understanding of Japanese food in China and South Korea, fueled partially by the influence of the media including TV shows like Kodoku no Gurume (The Solitary Gourmet) and Shinya Shokudo (Midnight Diner). These captivating shows pull Chinese and Korean viewers into the world of Japanese food, teaching them the nuances of everything from kaiseki to izakaya (Japanese-style bars), and inspire them to visit Japan to experience its food culture for themselves. “If you go to a high-end restaurant in Shang-hai, every person in the restaurant will have already traveled to Japan. That would only be partially true for New York and less so for European cities. The Chinese and Koreans are eager to experience izakaya culture, but people further away will still have to ask, ‘What’s an izakaya?’ However, in Düs-seldorf, I did see a sign aptly describing an izakaya as a place you go to drink, share food, talk loud, and sometimes cry.”Beyond the food itself, the Japanese food experience also has incredible allure for diners. Professor Farrer explores the urban small restaurant experience through “Nishio-giology,” an ethnographic research project centered in the Tokyo neighborhood of Nishiogikubo, where he lives. “As a sociologist, I wanted to discover if the mythical craftsman-ship and community of Japanese food popularized by shows like Shinya Shokudo were real. And I have found that it is true. In Nishiogikubo, I have met true craftsmen who work night and day at their own small restaurants. It is a hard but meaningful life. In terms of community, because of the small spaces of these tiny restaurants that dot Japan, which might only serve six people at once, diners cannot help but talk to each other. There is a world of communication over food and drink in these small spaces.”Professor Farrer concludes the interview by saying he is pleased to have the opportunity to research so many facets of Japanese food and to go beyond the initial parameters of Japanese food in China and the United States. In addition to his other main collaborators, the project includes students doing research in their own countries that range from Ger-many to Kenya. “We have received so much support from Sophia University in our research, and it has been great to involve students to teach about food and have them experi-ence fieldwork. As the project has grown to encompass the worldwide globalization of Japanese food, we have been tak-ing advantage of all the networks we have here at Sophia to make this a truly global story.” Soft Power and Japanese Food KnowledgeThe Japanese Food Experience and Sophia University1: Dondon Sushi Copenhagen2: Kanki Teppanyaki Raleigh NC1213Research