Japanese Food and Culture

Japanese Aesthetics, Literature, and Culture, Japanese Food and Culture

An Assistant’s Musings: A Look at The Pillow Book through a Modern-Day Lens

/

For this project, to showcase my understanding of not only the text, but also the historical context and the author’s personal history under which the piece was written, I decided to adapt Sei Shonagon’s The Pillow Book into what I believe a modern-day rendition would resemble. All of the writing is completely my own, drawing inspiration from the general work as a whole, as well as specific passages. All images were found online, but were collaged by me. In total I wrote 19 short pieces, each of which can be broadly categorised under six different categories: descriptive image, descriptive lists, non-descriptive lists, opinion pieces, anecdotes, and romantic scenes, though there is obviously significant overlap between these categories, with many pieces fitting into several (which is true also of the original). The following analysis will walk you through my thought process when creating these pieces, as well as the reasoning behind specific stylistic choices, explaining what the intended goals of the pieces were.

Japanese Food and Culture

Umami

/

Before getting into the big reflection part I do want to say that I appreciate having the opportunity to do this. I have made videos before but this is probably the longest and most complicated video I have done in my life I did my best to balance entertainment, cooking, research, and personal thoughts.

Japanese Aesthetics, Literature, and Culture, Japanese Food and Culture

A LEGO Depiction of the Battle of Nagashino

/

As a self-proclaimed military historian, the Battle of Nagashino has always signified a shift in the nature of warfare in my eyes. From the use of unique barricades which provided musketeers the freedom to choose their targets and remain relatively immune to melee attacks, to the advanced level of volley fire said to have been used on the battlefield, Nagashino presented me the opportunity to depict how technology shipped from the Ottoman Empire transformed the Japanese archipelago militaristically, laying the foundation for decades of ruthless combat.

Japanese Aesthetics, Literature, and Culture, Japanese Food and Culture

Accepting Knowledge as Suffering: A Contemporary Re-Imagining of Kamo no Chōmei’s Hōjōki

/

The sky glows a hellish orange, the scent of burning hair permeating the air. A cacophony of snapping wood and collapsing structures overpowers screams as fire whirls engulf those not fast enough. The horizon, similarly aglow, offers no refuge. To all trapped within this burning testament to man’s
power, the world must have seemed to come to an end.

Japanese Food and Culture, Representations of Japanese Cuisine in Media

Reconstructing Tampopo: An Analysis and Short Film

/

The conception of this project started as a singular thought experiment: what would Tampopo look like if they made it in the United States? Tampopo, created in 1986 by Japanese director, Juzo Itami, is a beloved film that showcased to the Western-world Japanese food. Utilising this food, it also offers a satiric cultural commentary of Japan at the time, with the film addressing larger critiques on topics such as feminism, class, traditionalism, consumer culture, and capitalism. Having watched this film several times and deeply enjoying it, I began to wonder what such a film would look like if made to reflect modern-day America. Thus, what started as a simple thought experiment transformed into a complicated project that explored my relationship to food in several different roles as a filmmaker, anthropologist, college student, and Asian American. Through using these multiple lenses of identity, I was able to create a unique experience to encapsulate some of the various themes found throughout the movie.

Japanese Food and Culture, Representations of Japanese Cuisine in Media

Salivating to Anime Food and Japanese Food in Film: Japanese Food in a 2D Space​

/

The eyes feast before the stomach” and “eating with your eyes” express the phenomenon of seeing the visual appeal of a food as an indicator for taste. As such, scenes within film depicting and emphasizing a dish or a meal can cause the audience to salivate and long to experience the dish being presented without any of the other sensory input included. Japanese cuisine depicted within film usually gets this reaction. However, the depictions of food within anime has built a mass fanbase that has skyrocketed intrigue towards and popularity of Japanese cuisine amongst Gen Z, Millennials, or anyone who has been graced with watching a Ghibli movie. Studio Ghibli’s distinct stylization of food has left many scrambling to recreate and learn about the cuisine presented, from the domestic Howl’s Moving Castle’s cast iron eggs and bacon to the extravagant tables of various dishes in Spirited Away.

Hybridity and Innovation in Japanese Foods, Japanese Food and Culture

Interpretation of Yatai in a Contemporary Period

/

Unlike the standard, past stationary settings of the restaurant or home, dining today often occurs in mobile environments—made conspicuous to the public eye, yet often overlooked. In particular, “street” food is a culinary niche that enables a heightened awareness of a food’s sensory elements rather than placing attention on other components such as restaurant decor. Specifically, I turn to the highly frequented yatai (food cart) business in Fukuoka, Japan, the shifting attitudes toward yatai in a contemporary period involving the COVID-19 outbreak, and its salient presence in the Japanese matsuri (festival) scene to tackle the cultural implications exerted upon locals, tourists, and academia—namely in how they subvert the common dining experience, bolster a unique localized dining culture, and complement a nation’s culture by reinforcing tradition.

Scroll to Top