Abstract
Seafoods are an indispensable part of Japanese cuisine for transnational audiences. This status is enshrined in UNESCO’s 2014 World Heritage distinction—one that declares fish to be an integral part of Japanese cuisine. Within Japan, however, traditional culinary culture is in transition as the taste for fish is declining. Fewer cooks are willing or even able to process and cook fish at home, and consumption of meat recently overtook that of fish. In light of flourishing transnational interest in seafood-centric Japanese cuisine, the political and ideological stakes of culinary changes in this “seafood-eating culture” are significant for the Japanese nation-state. How do Japanese cooks understand these shifting tastes and the politics of distinction that underlie them? This paper is based on empirical research with chefs and cooks in Tokyo conducted from 2022-2024. The paper examines how the shift in gastronomic values from fish shapes ideas of Japanese gastronomic heritage more broadly, tying culinary distinctions and palatability to increased anxieties over the disappearing national subject.
Presenters
C. Anne ClausAssociate Professor, Anthropology, American University, District of Columbia, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Seafood, Heritage, Japanese Cuisine, Social Change, Cooks
