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Postscript
Japanese Cuisine
Goes Global
Today, Japanese cuisine ranks among the major global culinary genres.
During the last two decades, Japanese food has succeeded in penetrating
a wide spectrum of the First World’s gastronomy – from posh dining to
healthy meal to a quick bite, Japanese cuisine is present in practically every
niche of the constantly diversifying restaurant market. 1 While classic
establishments proudly dish up craftsmanship and tradition for the connoisseurs
of exclusive dining, teppanyaki steak-houses provide culinary
entertainment to those with less privileged taste buds, and sushi and noodle
bars – with their informal atmosphere and innovative menus – appeal to
young audiences.
As the position of Japanese cuisine shifted from the periphery to
the centre of North American and European dining, the dependence on
Japanese know-how and ingredients imported from Japan steadily declined.
Nowadays, Japanese restaurants that operate in Europe and the United
States, except perhaps for the most exclusive establishments, rely largely
on local recourses. They are influenced less by Tokyo and more directly by
trends in Los Angeles, New York and London, which are the centres for
new connections in Japanese cuisine as part of global culture. As this chapter
will clarify, Japanese cuisine kept changing in the course of its global
journey. Like Japanese cuisine in Japan, Japanese cuisine outside Japan
was shaped by a variety of players, from macro-economic and political
forces to the individual initiatives of chefs and entrepreneurs, and finally
the tastes of the local public. The overseas dispersal of the Japanese – both
immigrants and expatriate businessmen – constituted the foundation of the
global spread of Japanese cuisine.
The first official dispatch of Japanese overseas contract labourers
took place in 1885 – at the time when the construction of a Japanese
national cuisine described in this book began. They were hired to work on
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