Menu
close
Home › Forums › Summer Institutes › East Asian Food and Identity, Summer 2021 › Eric Rath - Japan’s Cuisines: Food, Place and Identity (August 2)
Sonja Mason-Briscoe.
cgaoA specialist in premodern Japanese cultural history, Professor Eric C. Rath’s research ranges from the traditional Japanese performing arts, especially the 600-year old masked noh drama, to dietary culture particularly the origins of Japanese cuisine, regional foodways, sake, confectionery, and tobacco use. While maintaining his interest in Japanese theater, he is now working on several projects related to the traditional diet, ritual uses for food, smoking, local food, and sweets in early modern and modern Japan. His research illuminates patterns of daily consumption as well as the moments when food takes on symbolic meanings such as through the artistry of the chef, use in ritual, and by references to local terroir and literary culture. His editorial work includes Japanese Foodways Past and Present, co-edited with Stephanie Assmann (University of Illinois Press, 2010), and he is currently area editor for the forthcoming Oxford Companion to Sweets.
VIDEOS
Lecture 1
Lecture 2
READINGS
Cervantes LeeI enjoyed reading the articles of “Japanese Mothers and Obentōs: The Lunch-Box as Ideological State Apparatus”. A lot of “family warmth” picture came up to my mind. I remember I was a kid in Taipei, my mother sent the hot lunch box to the school every days for my brother and I. She studied the lunchbox recipe to make a “colorful” bento box for us. While at lunch hours, we always enjoyed “exchanging food” with classmates. We will chat a lot about food & family during the lunch hour.
Rachel WangIn the second video, Lecture 2, Eric Rath raised an intriguing question about “how cuisine is defined and who defines them.” The concepts of Kyodo Ryori and Fudo Shoku, for instance, tap into a sense of collective nostalgia and the ideal of being connected to the land (the soil or terroir 土 to be specific) that tie into the “romanticized hometowns” which become tourist attractions. His observation that the central government determines what local cuisines are might feel ironic, but it would make sense in achieving a unifying economic and social agenda. Among the current examples of such intentional marketing (regardless of their driving force) that immediately came to mind is https://visitkochijapan.com/en/taste-of-kochi This page happens to feature the seared bonito Prof. Rath references, as well as yuzu—a citrus for which the area is known; yet, the meticulous segmentation and painstaking curation are by no means unique to this region. In fact, the positioning of certain foods and drinks as special, seasonal, and locale-specific, is promoted in Japan on an impressive scale.
In her insightful paper on Japanese mothers and obentos, Anne Allison analyzes how food can play an important role in constructing identity and advancing ideology, while providing a glimpse of Japan’s education system. I wonder what the teachers out there think about the practice of “judging” their students’ lunches from home….
Jorge MaldonadoReading about this brought to what is called "revisionist history". The idea of going back and studying the history of the "forgotten:. What has the food pattern and consumption of the lower classes, the poor. How did the lower classes shape and define the present. It is crucial that we understand more than just the history of the "powerful".
Megan HsiaoAs a fan of Japanese food, it is interesting to learn about the origins of Japanese food and its places. In the lecture videos, Prof. Rath explained the importance of Umami, a savory flavor in Japanese cooking. Unlike Chinese people using a lot of spicy flavors in cooking, Japanese use Umami to add a seafood flavor in dishes. Umami is made from Konbu which is also an important ingredient of Japanese stock for soup. Enjoying Japanese ramen with different broths, it is inspiring to learn about Konbu and Katsuo as essential ingredients in Japanese cooking. Additionally, the reading of Japanese Mothers and Obentōs also reminded me of the importance of lunch boxes as obento in my childhood. Even today, boxed lunch is still very popular and common. As Anne Allison mentioned that the presentation of obento is very critical, this feature of the dish being very organized and stylized can be easily found from Japanese drama. I wonder how much of the Japanese food presentation has changed in the modern days, especially if it has been influenced by the idea of sustainability.
Rachel WangI could not upload these earlier, so trying again now. Related to today’s topic, I am attaching two photos that may be of interest to you or your students: one shows a wooden plane used to shave dried bonito fish; the other is a memory game featuring fish used for sushi—the individual cards feature specialized Chinese characters and a decorative paper craft, chiyogami.
clay dubeThanks to all for posting. Rachel, thanks for these wonderful images. The card game looks like fun and more informative than this one: https://gamewright.com/product/Sushi-Go Here's one review: https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/sushi-go-review/
The Sushi Bar game is here: https://jinenstore.com/products/okuno-karuta-ten-sushi-bar-matching-card-game Here's one take on how the game is played: https://simanaitissays.com/2015/02/09/sushi-game/
There is a jenga-like game with plastic sushi pieces. And, we didn't even explore the world of plastic Japanese food: https://www.tofugu.com/japan/sampuru/ And a company that sells the stuff: https://fakefoodjapan.com/
David MilliansI'm so sad to have missed this live discussion! There are so many ideas and possibilities for exploration in these materials. Bento boxes in societal context, UNESCO-defined Washoku, and attempts to define and codify Kyoto vegetables exemplify so well the ways in which understandings of food are culturally mediated. Kids, families, and communities experience many parallel situations. My classroom is a pretty safe space for kids at lunch, but children naturally want to express their reactions to other's meal contents, hopefully with less "ewww" and more discovery and awareness of their own emotional reactions to food, based on their cultural background. As we discussed in our first class, valuations of various "authenticities" are rife for USAens in deciding which restaurants and even cuisines to enjoy. I tend to be in favor of supporting cultural heritage, but it's unfortunate when that is understood in ways that warp or fossilize the designated area or hinder normal development, much less creativity, in that area. In parallel somewhat with the attempts to define the best of Kyoto traditional vegetables, the vast majority of grocery stores in the USA have a limited range of standardized options in their produce departments, and every specimen has to appear as near as possible to the understood-perfect form of that foodstuff.
A teacher of much younger students at my school always does a unit on apples, and one of her activities is showing the kids a range of apples breeds and wild forms and asking them which ones are "really" apples. Questions of color, shape, deformities, smell, and taste arise and are much debated. I've always been tempted to do this same activity with my ten and eleven year olds and may do so. After this reading, I think it would be interesting to do similar activities with other raw foods and types of dishes that people think they know well. For example, which of these are really sushi?
Jennifer KapralI found this presentation so interesting, especially conversation around authenticity and the travel of food back and forth. Related to the California Roll, we have the Texan roll here in Houston, which has salmon, imitation crab, cream cheese, avocado, jalapeno, and crispy fried onion flakes.
I know the owners, Glen and Hana Gondo, of Tokyo Gardens Catering, who advised our major grocery chain (HEB) with the creation of the in-store Sushiya house. HEB has a statement on their website: “Glen and Hana have helped H‑E‑B with the sourcing of authentic sushi products and the creation of many of the unique Sushiya rolls and poke bowl. Glen and Hana are extremely active in supporting the AAPI community and proud partners of H‑E‑B,”
I think people may see grocery-store sushi and question how it got there. Glen’s parents were interned in Japanese internment camps during WWII. They went on to open the first Japanese restaurant in Texas. Glen has created this flourishing sushi business built on his passion for bringing Japanese food into mainstream culture in order to build more cross-cultural understanding.
Rachel WangClay's comment about plastic foods reminded me to share this novelty item. Yes, there is an industry devoted to plastic food models and the well made ones command high prices. I suppose it is part of a business's advertising cost. They can serve as templates for how specific dishes ought to appear, thereby shaping expectations for consumers as well as cooks.
Sonja Mason-BriscoeOnce again, we are learning just how influential Los Angeles is in Asian cuisine. I would not have expected Los Angeles to have been such a trendsetter for sushi or a form thereof. As the readings stated "Sushi scholars trace its origins to Los
Angeles’s Little Tokyo, but disagree on when it was invented suggesting dates between 1962
to 1971.20 Urban legend combined with the fact that the first mention of a California Roll in
a newspaper article dates to 1979 means that the identity of the inventor of the iconic roll,
if there was such a person, will likely remain a mystery.21 Today, the California Roll fights for
attention with other rolls stuffed with all sorts of ingredients and topped with a variety of spicy foods.."
I know that I shouldn't be so surprised since Los Angeles especially in the neighborhood of Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw had a huge community of Japanese in the late 60's. The neighborhood I grew up in has little remnants of their presence. Mostly in the landscape and architecture of some commercial properties. But there was a time when the high school I graduated from and now teach it was predominantly attended by Japanese persons or direct descendants.
As time went on Japanese food was almost a staple in the neighborhood and as interracial relationships blossomed so did the fusion of foods. A few local cafes offered soul food and Japanese food. I can only assume this is how the California roll came to be. Avocado as an ingredient had to be a fusion of Latino Angelina's cuisine and Japanese food. Such an interesting concept..
Sonja Mason-BriscoeI did not realize just how important the Bento box was to Japanese culture. I just saw it as an easy way to offer a little of this and a little of that in an organized box.
After the lecture and the readings I recognize how the bento box or obento box plays an important role in the family dynamics.
This sparked my interest and now I have identified other same food set up in other Asian cultures such as India.
Sonja Mason-BriscoeThis seminar with Professor Rath was quite informative. I spend a lot of time teaching my students how to make sushi however until this lecture and readings, I didn't think about food being related to your status in Japan.
After this seminar I read a lot of articles about how Japanese diet wasn't very well documented because a lot of foods were dependent on your social and financial status. The servants weren't interested in documenting the scraps they ate. I even read that sushi as we know it with majority rice and a small amount of fish on top evolved as there was a shortage of fish among the commoners. Especially because when they fished they had to give their catch to the royal families to eat.
I feel that we barely scratched the surface with Japanese foods and its history. I hope there will be a follow up.
Sonja Mason-BriscoeThis seminar with Professor Rath was quite informative. I spend a lot of time teaching my students how to make sushi however until this lecture and readings, I didn't think about food being related to your status in Japan.
After this seminar I read a lot of articles about how Japanese diet wasn't very well documented because a lot of foods were dependent on your social and financial status. The servants weren't interested in documenting the scraps they ate. I even read that sushi as we know it with majority rice and a small amount of fish on top evolved as there was a shortage of fish among the commoners. Especially because when they fished they had to give their catch to the royal families to eat.
I feel that we barely scratched the surface with Japanese foods and its history. I hope there will be a follow up.
Sonja Mason-BriscoeI am not sure why after the California Roll other states like Texas decided to create a special sushi but I wish they hadn't. It seems like a fad like when a bunch of flavors get added on to an original good thing.
In my research I found that other states followed suit.
New York Roll
smoked salmon, apple, avocado
Boston Roll
crab or salmon or shrimp + avocado and/or scallions
Texas Roll
beef, cucumber, spinach leaves
Hawaiian Roll
garlic & albacore inside; avocado & albacore on top of the roll
Although, I like all of these ingredients, I feel us Americans always have to water down authenticity.