Washoku, but made by foreigners

Washoku, but made by foreigners

"Can foreign chefs save Japanese cuisine from extinction?"
Written by: Yohei Matsuo and Hiroto Aramaki, Nikkei Asian Review - October 27, 2019Nolan Matcovich - November 6, 2019

I found this Nikkei Asian Review article particularly interesting, as it connects to two different points of the larger issue of Japan's declining population, and the potential for culture loss that comes along with it. First, the article discusses the ways in which traditional Japanese cuisine and culinary arts are being "saved" by the increasing number of foreigners with a serious interest in and dedication to washoku. This is happening in the face of more and more average Japanese people eating foreign cuisines and Japanese culinary arts students increasingly attending western-style schools, "partly because of stereotypes about rigid hierarchies and grueling apprenticeships in traditional Japanese kitchens."

Many of the foreign students interviewed in the article, however, noted that they began studying at the Tokyo College of Sushi and Washoku, the only culinary school in Japan focused specifically on sushi and Japanese food, because of their personal experiences and fascination with Japanese food. The article notes that foreign students now account for more than half of the institution's enrollment. In this way, despite Japanese society increasingly turning its back on Japanese traditional cuisine, foreign students are maintaining and promoting, rather than diminishing, Japanese culinary culture.

At the same time, however, the article also connects to the issue of hurdles to these skilled foreign washoku chefs immigrating to Japan. According to the article, foreign chefs can only apply for skilled worker visas if they are working at restaurants of foreign cuisines. There is a quota for chefs of Japanese cuisine, but like many of the other worker visas we have discussed in class, they are required to leave the country after five years. At the same time, however, the article reports that President Masaru Watanabe of the Tokyo College of Sushi and Washoku said that "there's a lot of demand for chefs who speak other languages, because of the tourism boom." So, it not only seems that there is a need for immigrants from an additional industry to come to Japan, but that these visa restrictions for foreign chefs and other staff at Japanese restaurants are preventing people who would serve this demand for tourists from staying in Japan extensively and integrating more into the Japanese culinary industry. Yet, the possibility of Japan expanding culinary and restaurant industry-related work visa programs seems unlikely, as does the possibility of the Japanese government more openly accepting the increase of foreign washoku chefs as the number of Japanese washoku chefs declines.

External sources:

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/life/2015/05/03/food/japan-embraces-global-cuisines-washoku-culture/#.XcJIFkUzbOQ