Makan sushi: Authenticating Japanese Restaurants in Singapore

Abstract

This thesis is to provide an understanding of the complexity of globalization of Japanese restaurant culture in Singapore. Japanese restaurants gained popularity among local customers in the 1980s. This popularity of Japanese restaurants in fact complicated the picture of these restaurants over the years.The global nature of Japanese gastronomy means that Japanese restaurants everywhere seem to serve similar dishes. However, localization does occur thereby complicating the picture of Japanese gastronomic standardization. In Singapore, since the 1980s, many types of restaurants have been opened and new dishes created to attract non-Japanese customers. Yet, at the same time, many of these restaurants have attempted to be a??authentica?? so as to attract clientele of both local and Japanese diners. They have creatively reconfigured their food and their eating spaces, thereby forcing us to question theoretical notions of authenticity and cultural reproduction. Looking primarily at the management of food, people and space in Japanese restaurants in Singapore, I will discuss how localization and a??authenticationa?? are in fact compatible binaries. It is through the flow of people, commodities and information that the a??authenticationa?? of overseas Japanese restaurants coexists with the localization of these restaurants.