The evaluation and valuation of Japanese food in the Netherlands : how businesses engage with notions of authenticity, value, expertise and pleasure

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The Evaluation and Valuation of Japanese Food in the

Netherlands

How Businesses Engage with Notions of Authenticity, Value, Expertise

and Pleasure

Joris de Bruin

Student number: 10459634

Master Thesis

Cultural Sociology Track 2014-2015

University of Amsterdam

Date of submission: 15 december 2014

Supervisors:

Michaël Deinema (first reader)

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Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I would like to thank all my respondents for taking time out of their busy schedules to talk to me about the passion for Japanese food and culture.

I would like to thank my supervisors, Michaël Deinema and Amanda Brandellero for their help, comments and patience. Thanks also goes out to Dr. Aya Ezawa for providing insightful comments on my early proposals and providing entry into the community.

Last but not least, many thanks goes out to Emiko Kannan for taking an interest in my project and approaching and providing the contact details of possible respondents. The same goes for Rika San, who set up appointments for me with several respondents.

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1. Introduction

This is a description of the diverse people, approaches, products and attitudes that make up the Japanese food industry in the greater Amsterdam area. Japanese food is big in the Netherlands and there is hardly any way around it. This development has intensified in the last two decade in particular, with the amount of Japanese-style restaurants doubling in number totaling 148 businesses in 2009 (Kok, 2010). Even in limited time span during which the fieldwork for this thesis was conducted I witnessed how new restaurants and delicacy shops sprang up, sometimes right next door to an already established shop. The nature of the appreciation that the Dutch seem to have for Japanese food and Sushi – the bite-sized dish generally consisting of vinegared luke-warm rice, seaweed and raw fish – in particular has been subject to change since the 1990's. In this regard Japanese food has come far. Once perceived as being an elite acquired taste, it now has highly visible and accessible all-you-can-eat franchises such as Sumo a n d Shabu Shabu amongst its ambassadors. These two restaurant chains alone account for 17 and 12 restaurants in major cities respectively.1

This study however focusses on another set of food professionals. The defining features are as follows. Most of the data is derived from interviews with entrepreneurs who on average run comparatively smaller retail and delicacy businesses that are not centered around Sushi. The more important distinction is that many of the respondents have been active in the field since the first stages of Japanese cuisine in the Netherlands, which ranged from the late sixties to the early- to mid-nineties. The third point is that seven out of the nine food professionals included in this report are located in the hotbed site for Japanese cultural presence in Holland, het area between Amsterdam and Amstelveen. Initially, these businesses were engaged in servicing a Japanese crowd consisting of expats and immigrants and a small number of non-Japanese aficionado’s. As of today these entrepreneurs are caught up in the current maelstrom of the Japanese culinary boom.

This begs the question how Japanese food has come to be so popular. Not only have food professionals managed to succesfully provide food items to expats, they have also managed to break into new markets, instilling an appetite for an unfamiliar cuisine amongst Dutch consumers. It might be expected that these succeses have not been accomplished without adressing a range of inherent difficulties. Customers have come to now come to rate their enterprizes, but we cannot presume that they have always been conviced of the qualities of Japanese cuisine enough to incorporate these into their diets at a whim. The same goes for those early businesses that first

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established relations with a discerning community of Japanese expats who wanted to enjoy the cuisine of their homeland every now and again. This dynamic, at its core has to do with the social mechanisms by which actors come to percieve the qualities of a business, their evaluations, and how they subsequently come to rate these qualities, their valuations.

As already hinted at, entrepreneurs are not passive passive subjects in this process. Marketing and promotion may well have always been inseperable from economic activity since the inception of what has come to be the foundation of modern economic life. But that does not tell us how and why businesses choose between different lines of action in those regards. How are methods for evaluation and valuation established and maintained amongst businesses selling Japanese food in the Amsterdam area?

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2. A brief history of Japanese food in the Netherlands

One of the most important impetuses for the Japanese food market in Holland dates back to the 1960's. From that period on a number of large Japanese cooperations started becoming more and more global enterprises, establishing new headquarters and production centers across Europe in order to better serve markets beyond Japan. Dutch-Japanese trade relations in particular have a long history, going back to when Japan was still under the feudal rule in the 17th_{century (Boot 2001:} 94-97) and continue to thrive. In 1968 Japanese manufacturer Canon, best known amongst consumers for their camera's, established a presence in Amsterdam, which is still in operation up until today.2 Canon's move to Amsterdam not only started an inflow of commerce, technology and goods but also people, as Japanese employees and their families were sent abroad (interviews 7; 8; 9). Other notable companies that followed suit were office equipment producer Ricoh in 1971,3_photographic film manufacturer Fuji in 19824_{and renowned soy sauce producer Kikkoman in 1997.}5

The late sixties and early seventies saw the inception of the first Japanese restaurants, set up by Japanese immigrants. One of Japan's best known hotel businesses also set up a presence in Amsterdam, and the inflow of Japanese businesses and workers is still going on as of today. In the past four decades the host of services and amenities, ranging from schools to medical care, shops, restaurants, cultural events and associations have only increased, concentrating to an important degree in the area between Amsterdam and Amstelveen due to the its history. As stated by respondent 10, the Amsterdam muncipal government actively works to promote the area amongst Japanese businesses as a place that is agreeable for both business purposes, as well as in terms of living conditions. This small community also provided new economic possibilties for entrepreneurs who were willing to take the leap and started importing Japanese food items to the Netherlands, like the company that was started by the family of one of my informants, respondent 8. Currently, other businesses have co-opted the Japanese market to some extent. Supermarket chains such as Albert Heijn now offer a relatively large amount of Japanese foodstuffs in their franchises located around the region.

Japanese culinary products, tastes and methods have also taken other routes into the Netherlands, albeit via a slight detour. At the start of the Nouvelle Cuisine movement in France, its proponents began to look into new culinary cultures as a jumping off point for innovation (Rao, Monin and Durand 2003: 806-807). According to respondent 8 this led to the incorporation of

2 http://www.canon.nl/About_Us/About_Canon/Facts__Figures/index.aspx#tcm:16-512763

3 https://www.ricoh.com/about/company/history/1970/

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Japanese cooking techniques and flavors, but also to innovations in respect to the way in which food was presented and served to guests. This, according to him, was a tipping point in familiarizing Dutch crowds with the Japanese style, although it might not have been recognized as such at the time. Meanwhile, American audiences also developed an interest in Japanese dishes (Bestor 2001: 82-83). The American influence is nowadays more readily felt in the Netherlands, as evidenced by the pervasiveness of hybrid American-style Sushi rolls – elaborate creations comprising of three types of fish per roll, liberal application of mayonaise and a pervasiveness of fried batter crumbs.

This brief outine serves as a complication of standard models for the diffusion of culture as described and critiqued by Crane (1999: 14-16). In her discussion on the dispersion of clothing fashions during the 20th_{century she demonstrates how cultural dissemination no longer takes place} in either a top-down manner whereby centres of cultural production dictate what is fashionable. Neither does the spread of cultural products take place via a bottom-up construction. Fashions spread through a confluence of different groups of actors, located both in- and outside of institutional settings such as cooperations. In the case of Japanese food in Holland we can see how the migration of Japanese nationals also led to a veritable migration of culture, accomplished in accordance with import companies and restaurateurs who worked either directly or indirectly in a Japanese culinary style. The spread of Japanese cuisine to the US has in turn led to the import of an Americanized version in the Netherlands.

Why is it so important to point out particularly this cluster of more or less concurrent developments? The reason is that this truncated history makes us sensitive to several possibily very interesting dimensions of the case study, as it suggests that locally and at the present time, we might find that there are distinct crowds that deal in- and with Japanese food. This does not only result in the differentiation of the types of products and meals that go on sale in Holland. In light of the coexistence of multiple takes on Japanese food – including both hybridizations and more orthodox iterations – we might find that businesses have stricken up allegiances to different evaluative registers, resulting in a competition between their claims.

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3. Theoretical section

Before delving into the data which I managed to accumulate over the course of my fieldwork I will first present a number of theoretical points derived from a range of literature in the social sciences. The theoretical discussion which is to follow will serve as a basis to start thinking about the nature of my case. These are, in order, theories on cultural globalization, entrepeneurship and the twin concepts of evaluation and valuation. The centrality of these three topics has already been hinted at above. Other theoretical literature will also be incorporated in the subsequent sections, as these first three function mainly as a jumping off point.

3.1. Globalization

The degree to which the Japanese culinary tradition has moved into the limelight can be taken as an indicator of Japan's enduring status as purveyor of exotic cool to Western audiences (Iwabuchi 2002: 31-32). This notion gains wider political and sociological relevance when considered in the light of theses on Japan's increasing “soft power” (Shiraishi 2000: 288-289) and flows of cultural globalization (Crane 2002) in the Post-War era. In these modes of social research the authors pose the question whether the proliferation of a region or country's cultural images such as movies, music and comics can be seen as exerting similar degrees of influence on other parts of the globe as political, economic and military power. Whatever the case may be, the people that make up the global markets for cultural products, once supposedly dominated by American media, seem to have become accepting of Japanese cuisine and other cultural products (Bestor 2005: 14-15).

Cultural globalization is a central notion to the case study presented here. Japanese culture is here, directly available, in the Netherlands, whether in virtual or more tangible shapes. Japanese businessmen and women operate here on behalf of Japanese companies. Japanese media are available in bookshops and through the internet. Restaurants offer authentic Japanese dishes. What drives the spread of cultural artifacts and ideas, where do they end up and what subsequently happens to them? The driving forces behind cultural globalization have been envisioned in terms of a range of institutions, businesses, technologies, policies and practices (Sklair 1990; Meyer, Boli, Thomas and Ramirez 2007).

Bracketing daunting concepts like “Japanization” (Iwabuchi 2002: 23-24), research into Japanese cuisine in a foreign context potentially shines light on the complexities, modes of appreciation, knowledge, and degrees of acceptance that arise from cultural globalization from a manageable ground-up perspective. In turn, I propose to tackle the issue by focussing on relatively

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small businesses and their involvement with a tangible product, food. But what should such an analytical approach entail concretely? In an article by Toyoshima (2008) the author draws similar inferences as I have done up to now, arguing that due to globalization the consumption and presence of Japanese cultural products such as fashion, food and comics has become wide-spread in Thailand. He seeks to explain this phenomenon by investigating the attitudes of Thai youths, presuming that they have a “fondness” for these products specifically because they either are Japanese (Ibid 2008: 257). His largely quantitative study provides some insight into the pervasiveness of cultural consumption but in the end fails to explain exactly why, and more importantly how, Thai teenagers appreciate products from Japan.

What the study lacks is a clear description of the way in which Japanese products find their way into Japan, and how the coorporations that import products from one context to another postion their goods on a new market. Goods are not simply fed through infrastructural channels and then dumped onto a market. This proposition in part suggest that evaluations across different groups of consumers are the same in that both parties relate to the inherent and present qualities of a good in a similar manner. This is, however, not how several other scholars of cultural globalization have come to see the process, moving away from simpler notions of cultural homogenization, or in this case, evaluative homogenization (Appadurai 1990). Adams (2008) presents the theoretical dichtomy as the difference between the “homogenization of form” and a “homogenization of content” (Ibid 2008: 617-619). Japanese food, envisioned as a concrete form, is enjoyed in multiple locales. In contrast, the qualities which are attributed to Japanese food, the content, need not be the same however.

I will try to evade the explanatory lacuna present in Toyoshima's approach by focussing specifically on how content is altered in the process of cultural globalization. Globalization takes multiple paths, but I will predominantly focus on the ways in which cultural products are affected by the way in which entrepreneurs develop and spread evaluative criteria in new contexts. Other factors are also accounted for – such as infrastructural constraints – in the sense that they impinge on licence of the economic agents to develop evaluations.

3.2. Entrepreneurship

If entrepreneurs are the focal point in my case we should first off develop an understanding of the kind of a social actors they are in an abstract sense. According to Krogstad (2004) an entrepreneur can be defined as either “one whose aim is to make a profit from new products, by introducing old

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products in a new setting, or by reducing the costs of existing products” or “someone who converts the values of one sphere to adapt to those of another, frequently by crossing social and moral barriers” (Ibid 2004: 197). The theoretical relevance of these two definitions is apparent, especially due to the inclusion of the notion of the adaptation of value per context, which is in this instance qualitative instead of purely monetary. These general definitions are very valuable, but in light of certain features of my case the phenomenon of entrepreneurship should be looked into further.

The industry for Japanese food comprises an element which can fit into the literature on what is called ethnic entrepreneurship or more general as ethnic economies. A number of enterprizes are run by Japanese immigrants who have come to the Netherlands and have set up shop in the Amsterdam area, catering their wares specifically to the “enclave” of co-ethnics who are here either on permanent or temporary stays (Zhou 2004: 1042). Some non-Japanese businesses have also marketed their wares predominantly to people of the Japanese ethnicity, such as the businesses of a couple of my respondents. Are we dealing with an ethnic entrepreneur or an ethnic economy, and if so, in what sense?

Let me be clear that I do not directly share the research interests of scholars that work in the field of ethnic economies. For example, the literature deals with the way in which setting up an independent business becomes a strategy of survival for disenfranchised ethnic minority who are barred from the regular economy of the host society (Ibid 2004: 1047). I do not necessarily mean to write on the topic of how business strategies are shaped by the ethnicity of the actor meaning, for example, how actors use their ethnicity in their business practice by recruiting staff amongst co-ethnics who are in the same difficult position. Furthermore, Japanese immigrants are not easily fitted into the field's conceptions about the role of enthnicity in entrepreneurship, as as they are not dependent on enterprize because of their relatively low social status in the same way as other minorities might be.

My second point would be that focussing on the ethnicity of those who take part in the import and sale of goods could prove to be a problematic analytical tool. When is someone of a particular ethnicity? When we as social scientists decide on a bounded analytical category? If so, is our categorization something with which the subject identifies? Do they feel that it is a variable that acts on them? These are issues explored by for example Brubaker, Loveman and Stamatov (2004). who propose a “subjectivist” approach to ethnicity, defining it as something which is born out of the recurrent negotiation of identities and classifications. In this regards, explaining business and organizational practice as an outflow of a communal trait hides internal struggles, differentiation

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and divergent interests. This means losing out on local dynamics that arise out of being embedded in a new context. Rather, I would like to explore how they can be said to be entrepreneurs of ethnicity, as opposed to ethnic entrepreneurs.

3.4. Valuation and evaluation

When we assert that entrepreneurs engage in valuation and evaluation, what do we exactly mean by that? According to Callon, Meadel, and Rabeharisoa (2002) these practices are central to the conduct of economic actors, as they allow for the “positioning” of goods within a particular market (Ibid 2002: 200). That is to say that through the attribution of certain qualities, and the subsequent consumer-targeted marketing activities which take place, businesses attempt convince consumers of the worth and merit of their goods. This results in what they dub as “attachment” to the products, the consumer becomes inclined to partake in their goods specifically. Evaluation thus imparts a sense of difference.

This process does not merely constitute of a labeling of products as being either 'tasty' or somesuch. It is an active process of inscription that extends beyond marketing, as Heuts and Mol (2013) argue. They describe how professionals that deal with- and in tomatoes attempt to give value to their endeavors. They do so in a multitude of practical ways, for example through attentive production methods. In a more abstract regard they impart multiple classification to their wares, bringing specific qualities to the fore on the basis of situational differences. A quality is not always present or relevant, this changes as the way in which a tomato is used differs.

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4. Devising a research agenda: 'Japanese food'? An introductory disclaimer

For good measure let me preface my discussion of Japanese food in the Amsterdam area, and the people that sell it on a day to day basis, with a couple of remarks. By way of a disclaimer – but also in order to narrow the scope of my analysis and define my subject – it is important to note that brandishing terms as 'Japanese food' or 'Japanese cuisine' is not without its problems. Japan's culinary styles are diverse, ranging from refined dishes that symbolize the four seasons to simple hearty meals consisting of noodles, broth and beef. When I discuss Japanese food in the context of my case we are rather only dealing with a fraction of what can be argued to constitute Japanese food.

While my analysis makes claims about the field of 'Japanese food', I feel this point should be mentioned to stress that I intend to forgo any clear-cut characterization or definition of the cuisine that my respondents deal in. The foods sold through my respondents and the stores I frequented fit into different niches, containing everything from simple curry's that you cook at home to Michelin grade restaurant food. The actual talks I had with my respondents often pertained to the nature of the foods. However, I will generally try to steer clear of discussing Japanese food purely in terms of its formal aspects like, say, its historical constitution.

Compounding the complex nature of the subject is the fact that, as an aspiring sociologist of culture, I simply cannot allow to reify the subject matter or take it for granted. Japanese food is not a given: something we simply access in a straightforward manner by reading or talking about it, or by preparing a dish and eating it. Nor is any culinary tradition likely to function in such a way, for that matter. What my respondents share is a sense of self-identification, “I am a person that deals in Japanese food.” On a practical level, this encompasses seemingly contradictory ideas of doing novel Japanese-style fusion as well as 'canonical' or 'authentic' meals. If this is the case, what exactly are my respondents mutually engaged in, can we delineate 'Japanese food'? The degree to which this question matters is a subject up for debate. My data does allow for one possible analytical strategy, and that is to observe how the range of possible permutations that fall under the rubric of Japanese food contract and expand as respondents argue for the inclusion or exclusion of ingredients, styles, or cooking methods. To be concise: what happens to the idea of Japanese food when modes of appreciation differ?

This is a pertinent question. According to my respondents, Japanese food can be an altogether different beast to them and the other people engaged in the field, be it is their peers or possibly even their customers. Is Sushi the be all and end all of Japanese cuisine? Some would

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argue that Japanese food should be seasonal. Is it simple or intricate food? Granted, this makes for an interesting and engaged discussion in itself, but why do we grant discussions in this vein any credence when doing sociology? The crux here is mutual engagement: when a group of people is invested in an item, a practice or a style.

The argument is based on the classic Bourdieusian thesis, and it is as follows. In a particular field – such as Japanese cuisine – how you relate to the 'thing' that the field is centered around is not just an insular, private relationship. On the contrary, it affects how you relate to the ones also invested in this one 'thing'. Discussing the constitution of Japanese food is more than categorization of the food itself. For example, it possibly stands to discredit other people's judgements and other people's practices, or re-organize the practices surrounding Japanese food (Lamont 2012: 21.2-21.3). Talking about the 'thing' and scrutinizing it provides access to the social social relations between those people who hold a stake in the business.

Hopefully, whilst keeping the above mentioned in mind, it is now becoming clear how I will attempt to distill from the interviews about food – its quality, characteristics and so on – exactly those elements of Japanese food that can be said to have consequences on a social level: what are the purposes and audiences of the food as respondents see and intend it? How does that translate into a related business practice: in what way is it made fit for consumption and for whom?

4.1. Posing questions

As we try to sight the subject with all its nuances and difficulties we can start to devise a strategy for approaching it in a sociological manner. That is, by posing a number of relevant questions that help us to understand what kinds of social action we are dealing with, or at least to gain an understanding of some parts of it. In drawing up a research agenda, I will first elaborate on my research questions. I will also shortly spell out the particular significance of my questions in relation to the case, in order to demonstrate how they fit and what they are geared at. Finally, I will formulate a number of expectations and goals for the analysis of the research data.

Some cursory areas for questioning have already been mentioned in the section above. How do the people that deal Japanese food relate to their livelihood, and what are the implications for the way in which they act towards others? As relatively nondescript as that might seem at a glance a further step back is needed before posing any concrete questions. My first question will be: how can we start to frame the case?

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across the globe, be it in terms of products, expressions or ideas. My focus is on those “flows” of culture, borrowing from Appadurai (1990), and the way that they enter the Netherlands and become available under the aegis of several kinds of food professionals. Appadurai's conception of cultural globalization helps in coming to terms with several pressing aspects of the case already hinted at earlier, such as the spread of Japanese cuisine in the Netherlands and the differing attitudes towards Japanese cuisine amongst professionals.

Firstly, as most people will know, under globalization all manners of material and immaterial culture reach us through a plethora of channels. The key to understanding the global proliferation of culture lies in examining how cultural expressions interact with different political and financial interests, flows of people and with technological developments. Taking in these separate variables is not just a matter of understanding how cultural products are simply propelled throughout the world, of how they start to flow. More importantly, Appadurai argues that the interaction between these different forces leads to novel configurations (Ibid 1990: 17-20). The complex interplay that drives the spread of cultural also serves to refract it. But how would following this agenda for examining the way in which cultural expressions traverse the globe and take shape help in understanding the discourse of food professionals in Holland?

Exploring Peterson's “production of culture approach” (Ibid 1990; Peterson and Anand 2004) sheds more light on the aforementioned question. The production of culture approach shares some basic analytical angles with that of Appadurai. Peterson proposed to explain the shape of cultural expressions by way of the structural forces that producers of culture deal with: technological possibilities, laws and regulations, organizational structure and so forth (Peterson 1990: 98; Peterson and Anand 2004: 312). Artists partly create the works they create because of the possibilities and restrictions that result out of formal parameters.

The contrast is that analyses in Peterson's vein are more localized and specific in that they are restricted to specific sites, fields or industries. Furthermore, his approach is strictly focussed on the actual production of culture. My case shows connections to both outlooks. Shopkeepers are in part responsible for the proliferation of Japanese culture in the Netherlands. Businesses form an element within the machinery that drives the flow culture. They do so in a twofold manner: in both a material and a more immaterial sense. Food professionals' practices are clearly materialist in the way that they provide access to to a limited range of tangible products and materials that consumers can purchase, use, display and so forth. They rely on infrastructural and financial networks to get their wares from A to B and on technology to prevent any loss of taste or freshness.

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However, food professionals also help to channel and spread information about the product and its origin, applications and other forms of contextual information. When a shopkeeper singles out a particular piece of knowledge that is to be broadcast to others, he or she decides on a style of presentation, a narrative, and so on. In this sense, the shopkeeper is also actively engaged in producing and grooming images or ideas surrounding food and, in turn, funneling these images or ideas towards possible audiences.

Now we are also getting into the territory of marketing efforts: making a product appealing for a Dutch audience, or perhaps for the Japanese expats in the neighborhood. This also contributes to the creation and flow of immaterial culture as it is one of the ways in which the proliferation of a cultural product can be set up. The efforts food professionals put in packaging and marketing their wares makes products manageable for consumers, so to say (Peterson and Anand 2004: 317-318). What sort of product is it? Why is it nice? Why is it valuable? How is it different from the one that you can get down the road? Often surpassing mere matter of fact-style statements, business owners' claims instead veer into the territory of the sensual, historical and authentic. In this way, the businesses that comprise the market for Japanese food play a part in shaping how Japanese food, as an engaging cultural expression, actually becomes a presence in the Netherlands.

Appadurai and Peterson's research agenda's are decidedly macro-level in their take on cultural formation, taking in global markets, politics and entire industries. I would propose to examine the way in which cultural products are shaped on a small scale and via a different, inverted path. As stated in the previous section, my interests lie with examining the talk intimately tied to the appearance of Japanese food. My analytical approach questions the judgements of food professionals about the object of their profession and what they project outwards – for example in terms of marketing efforts – in terms of how they stand to work towards building a framework for evaluation and valuation: establishing worth and attaching worth.

My argument is that this actually constitutes a study of the way the tools that we have to grasp a cultural product are (re-) created and moulded. Conversely, this impacts the way in which people actually perceive and interact with a cultural product. Posing further research questions in terms of the twin concepts of evaluation and valuation has several benefits. First off, the ideas of evaluation and valuation encompass a host of questions ranging from “what is it worth”, “what is good”, “what is tasty” and so on. Secondly, there is an interesting interrelation between the two which manages to link seemingly disparate concepts such as monetary value and authenticity (see for example Helgesson and Muniesa 2013: 5-6).

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Embedding these two notions into my research questions has implications for the study of the relationship between discourse and practice in a particularly hands on fashion. What role does what we say 'ought' and 'should' play into what we do? The fact that this is a study about the production and sale of food entails that there is an intrinsic practical dimension to it: whether it be cooking, tasting, buying, or eating (Heuts and Mol 2013: 141-142; Lamont 2012: 21.5). As stated in the introduction, the overarching research question I would like to propose is:

How are methods for evaluation and valuation established and maintained amongst businesses selling Japanese food in the Amsterdam area?6

This question breaks up into three constituent elements that refine the main research question and, at the same, provide a logical analytical flow as it were.

1) How are evaluation and valuation pertaining to Japanese food in the Amsterdam area 'possible'? That is to say, amongst who and where do the categorizations, definitions and their associated characteristics originate? How are they understood by its proponents on a day-to-day basis and in different contexts?

2) How do food professionals in the Amsterdam area engage in making the resultant forms of evaluation a 'thing' in social life?

For example, do they make attempts at the enculturation of others, teaching people how to appreciate flavors and recipes in a way that they see fit? Associated with this question is the idea of the existence of possible barriers that one faces when attempting evaluation or valuation, such as counter claims from competitors or an unreceptive audience.

3) What social barriers are erected through processes of evaluation and valuation?

As stated in the introduction, after explaining how evaluation comes into being, we should also look at the social consequences of value judgements as these do not only cast a light on the cultural products that they refer to, but also invariably cast a light on those who produce, handle and consume these products.

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The three tier structure of my questions moves from fundamental matters like the social construction and constitution of evaluation to its practice and, finally, to its effects. The influence of production of culture approach is felt in the topics that are included in the analytical move. Whilst the primary analytical limelight is on respondents' discourse about things like good flavor and skillful preparation, we should always be aware of the fact that there is not just someone who dreams such preferences up. The reasons for favoring one conception over the other are not just metaphysical or aesthetic but also the outcome of practical – structural if you will – constrictions and possibilities. Therefore, reports on, for example, organization practices or import networks or technology – and more importantly, their interaction with evaluative practice – will feature throughout the analysis.

4.2. Different but the same

My interview sample of food professionals accounts for such diverse practices as marketing and selling foodstuffs to people who do home cooking to preparing gourmet food for consumers in high-end restaurants to making and presenting deli foods that customers take out. We can expect how, in actuality, these separate businesses run a whole gamut of different practices and problems as the niches in which the respondents operate vary. There is not only a possible risk of things becoming convoluted and confusing, but also incongruent. How to actually compare and contrast respondents and argue in favor of using their separate cases to build one case?

A couple of practical reasons form the basis for my diverse sample. The available pool of possible respondents in one business niche is too small to build a strong case. Concentrating on for example, shopkeepers that run brick and mortar stores alone would cause difficulties. Sticking to my example, when examining the business model of actual retail outlets the ability to delineate clearly between one line of work and the other also proves difficult. A deli can be found selling the same grocery products as a supermarket as part of their operation and a store focussed on groceries also has a section with freshly prepared deli-style dishes to name an example. The analytical importance of using a broad sample stems from the idea that the choice of business model – and the juxtapositions therein – reflect food professionals' understanding of the market. It is the result of businesses' positionality in terms of how they differ amongst each other in know-how, outlook or location, to name a few. It is the outcome of their grasp of the different modes of evaluating food that circulate within the market and how these impact the appeal of products and the range of possibilities for presenting products, a key issue in my research questions.

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This is not to say that there are no similarities in respondents' reports. The nuances of interviewees tales differ, and yet, to a large extent, they come together in several areas. Logically, the intersections between their experiences form the building blocks of my analysis. The accounts discussed below have been selected on the basis of their recurrence, be it absolute and literal terms across multiple respondents, or, more importantly when doing qualitative work on a small number of respondents, on the basis of thematic similarity. That is, when interviewees' practices or discourse can be argued as having comparable intent and ramifications (Bryman 2012: 578-581).

For example, similarities occur regardless of whether a business is gearing their products towards professional Dutch chefs with an interest in Japanese flavors or towards Dutch parents that wish to serve their children a Japanese Bento-style lunch. In both of these two distinct instances food professional's efforts towards contextualization and education have the same salience. They take up the act of education for similar reasons, a lack of knowledge of- and experience with Japanese food amongst potential audiences. Moreover, these efforts both are born out of a similar urge to share the passion for Japanese cuisine and produce similar effects such as, for example, the steady expansion of a loyal customer base and the gradual induction of customers into the world of Japanese cuisine.

In turn, the diversity of the case helps us to understand how the inflow of Japanese culinary culture enters through a multitude of import channels and how it refracts on site. It allows for examining the construction of the different guises that Japanese dishes take and their respective champions and audiences. Moreover, it draws attention to how the specific composition of a business or business niche can be mapped onto differences in terms of expression. Table 1 provides an overview of all respondents, along with additional information about their base of operations and their respective business models.

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Table 1: Breakdown of Interview Respondents

Location Type of business Business size Number of years

active in Japanese food Respondent 1

Co-Owner Amsterdam/Amstelveen area Store, food and non-food consumer goods

One store 20 years

Respondent 2

Co-Owner

Amsterdam/ Amstelveen area

Store, both prepared and non-prepared food, non-food consumer goods

One store Not available

Respondent 3

Professional Cook Amsterdam/Amstelveen area Restaurant, Teppanyaki-style Part of a world-wide chain of hotels 3 years Respondent 4 Professional Cook Amsterdam/ Amstelveen area Restaurant, Kaiseki-style Part of a world-wide chain of hotels 2 years Respondent 5

Owner Amsterdam/Amstelveen area Deli, both prepared and non-prepared food items and ingredients

Two delicacy shops 21 years

Respondent 6

Owner

Both in- and outside of the Amsterdam/ Amstelveen area

Market stall Several markets across the Netherlands

10 years Respondent 7 General Manager Outside of the Amsterdam/ Amstelveen area Import, export, production, sale and distribution of food items for consumers

Caters to customers throughout the European Union

18 years

Respondent 8

Sales and Marketing Director

Outside of the Amsterdam/ Amstelveen area

Import, production, sale and distribution of food items for consumers and professionals Caters to customers throughout the European Union 30 years Respondent 9

Professional Cook Amsterdam/Amstelveen area Restaurant, Asian Fusion, ex-employee at Kaiseki-style restaurant

7 years

Respondent 10

Director Amsterdam/Amstelveen area Foreign investment agency for the Amsterdam metropolitan area

Responsible for managing contacts with Japansese expats and businesses

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4.3. What about consumers?

Why make shopkeepers the sole focus of investigation? The idea that the market is a co-creation seems to be a sociological truism, as consumers and their interests and demands are also responsible for driving the scope and shape of the market. In this sense, academic approaches for analyzing the trinity of buyers, sellers and goods have come a long way. At the extreme ends of the spectrum we find businesses seeking to create and expand markets by insidiously pushing products and fashions onto buyers (Ritzer 2001) and consumer resisting these singleminded attempts through different forms of (organized) social action, such as boycotts, and re-appropriation (Smart 2010).

Efforts aimed at conceptualizing markets that I would prefer to use have arrived at an intermediary position in which the two sides are not necessarily at odds but rather integrated into a co-dependent relationship (Callon, Meadel, and Rabeharisoa, 2002; Zukin and Smith Maguire 2004). However, separating the respective social spheres of businesses and consumers is still a useful analytical exercise even if it creates difficulties, such as in the case of evaluation. Businesses do not simply decide to push a product as desirable in a unilateral fashion but utilize feedback loops to inform practical decisions: conversations with consumers or consumer panels, past experiences with selling similar types products shape perceptions of the market's climate.

Arguably, the use of making a distinction first lies in analytical parsimony – a point of critique aimed at Callon's integrative approach mentioned in the preceding paragraph (McFall 2009: 278). This is a useful trait, as long as there is a clear understanding that the account is not all-encompassing and that some elements and nuances of the case receive less attention than others. On a more practical level, business owners as respondents have a great deal of potential for rich information regarding the market. They are personally invested for long periods of time. Most will necessarily have a decent overview of import networks and customer networks. Furthermore, when it comes to the inflow of culture an important part of the executive decision rests with them. They perform gatekeeping-roles, facilitating other peoples' access to cultural products.

Lastly, this choice is in line with the cultural industries-based approach, which the merits have already been argued in favor of. Nonetheless, the reason for being explicit about these points is that, despite the fact that the research questions are all aimed at businesses, the demand side will invariably seep through in an attempt at investigating the evaluation and valuation of Japanese food. The goal is to circumvent a constant back-and-forth while still providing a description of the most poignant intersections between buyers' and sellers' positions. What is more is that when the demand side is taken into account it is always done through the prism of food professionals. That is to say

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that those ruminations are based on the experiences and views of food professionals, where they report that the two impact each other.

4.4. Methodology

The following methodological concerns played a part in preparing for my research project and in carrying out interviews and analyses. Choices in terms of methodology were first made based on the grounds of the theoretical literature study that I conducted before starting off the first round of interviews. As I developed an inkling of the possible features of my case through reading up on studies which dealt with a similar subject matter,7_{both in a conceptual manner – general theories on} consumption and production – and in more concrete manners – studies about cultural industries and the people that work in these sectors – I decided on a qualitative approach. Initially, my interest laid in the selection methods that food professionals used in developing, fabricating and importing products and the rationalities behind this process. This line of inquiry nessecitates a choice for qualitative methods, as the point of interest was not just practice, but more importantly, talk.

My interview sample first came to be with the help of two people who were part of the Japanese community in the Amsterdam area. I got in touch with one informant through referral, the other had already been an aquaintance of mine for some time. Both offered to establish first contact with potential respondents, arguing that it would be more conductive. I chose to respect their opinions, as they were themselves customers at these businesses. A short description of my research project was passed along to a number of businesses, after which I got an “okay” to contact six people directly. This subsequently resulted in a total of four actual interviews. Several respondents expressed no interest while others were simply too busy to participate. Among those that declined were a number of well known businesses that are central to the field of Japanese food in the area as I would later find out through respondents' stories. As a compromise, I visited three businesses and a restaurant on multiple occasions as a 'customer', in order to make observations of the shop floor.

Other potential respondents were approached directly, either in person, by phone or by establishing e-mail. The latter proved to be the most fruitful as most people were to busy during work hours to listen to my explanation. In my written correspondence I also included a brief outline explaining my intentions. These respondents were selected by making my rounds in the area, observing potential research sites. Others were mentioned during interviews, after which I would try 7 See for example: Bestor 2001; Fine 1992; Jamerson 2009; Johnston and Baumann 2007; Lu and Fine 1995; Mintz and Du Bois 2002; Zukin and Smith Maguire 2004.

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to set up an appointment.

When I made my introductions to new respondents I had already introduced myself as being somewhat informed. I had let them know beforehand that my interest in Japanese food came out of my background in Japanese studies. However, I tried to not let this get in the way of data collection. This was a concern in the following regard. Respondents would sometimes ask me if I was aware of certain things such as products, mores and customs and social interactions. I acknowledged these points but still tried to get them to be vocal in regard to topics about which we both had some knowledge. While my method of introduction and recognition of familiar topics was aimed at establish a sense of rapport (Silverman 2011: 162) the accompanying 'danger' was twofold. Of course, there is the possibility that my exact understanding of the subject might differ from that of the interviewee. Secondly, acknowledging a shared understanding might cause a topic to be abandoned, as “you and I both know that something is such and such...”

During four interviews my language skills played a prominent role, as those interviews were carried out with Japanese food professionals. My aim was to try to speak Japanese when possible and to ask my questions in Japanese. I also deemed it important in advance to let my respondents speak in their mother tongue, so as to express themselves in a familiar and trusted manner. Sometimes this resulted in slight confusion, as I myself am not a native speaker and my wording came across as opaque, in which case I had try my best to reformulate my question. During my interviews with two Japanese chefs we spoke a mix of English and Japanese, because, as I understood it, they were eager to use and practice their language skills. This of course is a language in which both myself and my informants were not brought up in.

The interviews were carried out in a semi-structured manner, using open ended questions. This provides two benefits. I first developed a list of topics and questions based on my aforementioned hunches. This list of topics was subject to change per respondent as some would not be relevant to certain respondents due to the nature of their business. Further modifications were made based on the development of an iterative process, whereby new findings impacted the continuation of certain research interests, were as others were abandoned due to that fact that they had no common ground with the practices and beliefs of my respondents. The open ended style of asking questions which I tried to use added a second dimension of flexibility. It allowed respondents to tell me about what they thought was most important, even if that meant that the conversation would veer off in seemingly unrelated directions (Bryman 2012: 246-247). This in turn helped in adding to my knowledge, as it shone new light on some situtations, adding to a more

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complete understanding of respondents' concerns beyond my first research interests.

During my analysis the interview data was treated in light of a constructivist ontology, meaning that respondents' utterances were treated not nessecarily as reflections on facts and certainties, but as world views that provide an insight into how they understand their situation (Silverman 2011: 199-200). The analytical companion to this ontological stance is that I strove to understand how their conceptions helped in shaping their practices and engagements with others.

Interview data was subsequently parted out into different categories or codes. This categorization was achieved after multiple readings of the interview data after which I identified the different themes that ran through the interviews. After this process I compared and contrasted the interviews in order to come to a comparative coding schema. The first goal of comparative coding was to provide an analytical index of shared themes and problems when it comes to evaluation and valuation amongst food professionals. This means presenting the body of data in terms of categories that allow for housing several different accounts across respondents under one, more abstract rubric. By doing so, I hoped to highlight where experiences converged and diverged. In the final analysis, this shows us what is most central to the collective endeavor – a shared experience if you will – and what is special about the individual reports. One the one hand we have the commonalities which can be used to generate general statements about the case and on the other we end up with unique elements and incongruities that serve to challenge and nuance other findings.

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5. Rice and raw fish for the masses? Finding and binding the customer

Amstelveen, round about mid-day, after conducting an interview at a deli I made my way back to the bus station. It was sunny and quiet as I strolled onto a street market. Unattentive to the people and displays around me I kept going along, still pondering what I had heard and discussed during the interview just moments ago. What questions still needed answering and who should I speak to in order to do so? As I had just passed by a market stall I noticed a big, colorful flag in its far corner. Looking back, I saw to my surprise that the flag advertised that the seller had vegetables for sale, all in Japanese characters. It promised me as the onlooker a veritable “festival of fruits and vegetables.” The rest of the stall however, festive as it may have been, did not seem to be 'Japanese' at all in terms of staff, products or advertisements.

I walked back and saw that there was a whole section dedicated especially to Japanese food. The signs between the crates were written in Japanese. The labels on the packaging of some products was Japanese. And all this at a Dutch stall? At that moment, an elderly Japanese man and woman also approached the table looking as surprised as I was. The man, suddenly looking jovial, attempted to strike up a conversation in English with one of the attendants, commenting on a product. After a brief exchange of words – and a struggle with the language barrier between the Dutch employee and the man – the pair walked off again. And me, I had just found my next respondent. (Field notes respondent 6)

The first issue I would like to tackle concerns the tools that shopkeepers use for stimulating attachment (Callon, Meadel, and Rabeharisoa 2002), or in other words, finding customers and binding them to your business or product. Attaching people implies a number of things. When looking for an explanation for the question how evaluation and valuation are made possible by my interviewees, the idea of attachment is a good place to start off. By communicating ideas of quality and trustworthiness to someone else, one ideally tries to create a shared understanding and conversely, a sense of appeal. In the long term this hopefully translates into closeness an reciprocity between you and others, akin to the idea of the social “embeddedness” of economic transactions (Granovetter 1985: 490). Evaluation and valuation are therefore a central tenet in attachment

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strategies.8_{The opening vignette highlights several recurring concerns in my respondents' talks} about attachment as well as the foundations of evaluation. Sometimes the possibilities for doing so are fleeting, sometimes they gestate over longer periods of time. Drawing attention is an obvious pre-requisite, but how should you go about it? And what do you then confer to potential clients?

The way in which entrepreneurs find their customers is dependent on a couple of factors. For example, knowledge about the existence of businesses seems to be circulated amongst Japanese immigrants and expats trough immediate interpersonal networks, such as co-workers and friends, internet sites and mailings. In some area's of the Netherlands the number of shops is few and far between and to some degree – especially in the Amsterdam area – clustered nearby immigrants' and expats' places of residence, so information is passed on readily and quickly as became clear during interviews 3, 4, 7 and 10. Further, the way in which wares are presented also differ per intended audience, namely Japanese and non-Japanese. The tactics Japanese-run shops use are also different from their Non-Japanese owned counterparts. The report below is structured in such a way as to bring any discrepancies to the fore. I will first discuss what Dutch and Japanese entrepreneurs do in order to draw Japanese customers, followed by a section on their approach of Dutch customers.

5.1. Language and signs

The decorated market stall mentioned at the start of the section is no exception to the rule when it comes to the presentation styles used by Japanese food professionals. Use of the Japanese language, often in its original ideograms and characters instead of a romanized version, is paramount as a tool in various respondents' toolkits. During my fieldwork I encountered plaques, flags, trucks, price tags and websites in Japanese, whether the businesses were operated by people of Japanese descent or not. The use of Japanese motifs also extend beyond written language into more symbolic dimensions, for example by making use of (stereo-) typically Japanese design elements on the shop floor. The result is eye catching. For someone who is not Japanese, seeing alien characters in the window shops can come as a surprise. The reverse is that it is a suddenly familiar experience for for someone who is Japanese and who does not often see his or her own language on display in the Netherlands.

Respondent 6, the owner of the market stall in question related his thoughts about the flag 8 Of course, being competitive in a more strict economic sense also shares in the balance and one will sometimes outweigh the other. Striking a balance between money and, for example, tastiness will also come under scrutiny.

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and the signs he had put up by recounting a story about a trip he had made to Australia. While there, he was struck by finding jars of peanut butter by quintessentially Dutch brand Calve in a supermarket. He had already frequented the place a number of times, but had never noticed the Dutch products that they had because the section was not clearly delineated or advertised. Similarly, Japanese shoppers had passed by without noticing the Japanese vegetables he carried. However, in his view it extended further than mere practicality, stating: “That feeling of recognition (…) that also creates a bond.” Another respondent echoed this sentiment, framing it as customers “joining up”:

R7: “So, Communication, completely in their own language. Both in e-mails as well as on the phone.”

I: “I also saw – the signs are all bilingual, the truck is covered in Kanji [ed.: Japanese characters].”

R7: “Yes (…) it just works to lower the barrier, and also, yeah the accessibility for the Japanese to join up with us is made somewhat easier.”

As the quote above illustrates, the use of the Japanese language as a means for attachment is not confided to written language. In order to market their wares to expats and immigrants, Non-Japanese respondents sometimes have to surmount a language barrier. Expats in particular only stay in the Netherlands for relatively short periods of time before being relocated to another region or country all together. In turn, not everyone has a good enough grasp of the Dutch language in order to communicate effectively, or sometimes even of the English language. Allowing potential customers to use their mother tongue and making this explicit helps in lowering any barriers in this regard. Potential customers need not be ashamed about making mistakes and the risk of uneasiness due to misunderstandings is averted for both parties.

Respondents 6, 7 and 8 employed workers who could speak Japanese to mitigate this factor. Apart from the interview data, field observations showed that one Japanese-owned shop hired Dutch employees who had studied Japanese and that another non-Japanese owned shop had an employee who could help customers in Japanese. Besides the practical benefit to communicating without hiccups, having Japanese speakers on hand also allowed an inroad into establishing rapport with customers over respondents' wares. Namely, it facilitates talk about products and their

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qualities, and provides deeper insight into what customers value and need. Clear communication in this sense instills trust and allows for expertise. All three related how they utilized language skills as a way to gauge the evaluative repertoires of their Japanese customers more effectively in this way, potentially using it to implement changes. Respondent 7 made a point of customizing the service up to the point were it met as much of the expectations of Japanese expats as possible, presenting it as a distinct added value of his business model.

5.2. Faces

Employees' ethnicity is often a close corollary to language, but not a necessary companion to it, as seen in the example of employing Dutch students of the Japanese language. Attracting customers by inviting them to speak their native language through signage is complemented by Dutch respondents cooperating with co-workers of Japanese heritage. Seeing a 'familiar' face, in a purely metaphorical sense, might further lower barriers for interaction and consequently aid in the evaluation and valuation of food. While discussing the delicatessen affiliated with the export and import company of respondent 7, he argued that it does matter for Japanese customers whether there is a co-ethnic person in charge of doing the cooking. The expectations that they have of a Japanese chef versus a Dutch chef, to name an example, are different in the sense that they can be a bit more certain of the former's expertise and palate. Concurrent with the advantage of establishing conversation about food and referring customers to other products – which were mirrored in my discussion with informant 8 – he stated:

R 7: “I'm not trying to say that only Japanese people can make good Sushi but you do see that the barrier between Japanese people amongst themselves – its more trustworthy if it's a Japanese person (…) There has to be a link with Japan. Ideally, there has to be a Japanese person.”

Reviewed in this light, ethnicity9_{makes for a crude way of signaling and ascertaining expertise, an} initial crutch in the sense that Swidler (2000) uses it – a method that is not a fool-proof golden rule, but instead a way to make decisions and rationalize judgements in complicated social and institutional settings (Ibid 2000: 129-132; 175-179). That being said, the respondent went on to say 9 Or rather 'apparent' ethnicity, at least up until the point that conversation is made between an employee and a customer. I do not mean to imply that co-ethnics can spot each other without fail.

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that he also had customers that did not take particular notice of a chef being Japanese or not, arguing that a non-Japanese chef at another deli was equally rated. Interviewee 5, a Dutch man, also recounted about the effect of employing Japanese staff. He had worked with Japanese cooks at his establishment in the past, at the start of his 21 year run as a Japanese food professional.

R 5: “You see, in the past there was a kind of chauvinism among the Japanese, they used to come in and then they'd see a Japanese cook and they'd deem it to be a good shop. If they would see me or someone else standing there they were out quickly (…) [Japanese food] was surrounded by a lot of mystique (…) But it's not rocket science.”

Whether these experiences should be framed in terms of chauvinism, trustworthiness or accessibility is a matter of who you ask. Deciding on an interpretation is not the most pressing issue however. There are undoubtedly a host of reasons for the centrality of familiar language and co-ethnics that vary per situation and actor.

The important point to take away from this is that who fronts a business, coupled with their means of communication, becomes a factor in considering the quality of food. Put in different terms, it confers a priori legitimacy before the actual wares enter the picture in a more direct sensory way, before things such as gazing and sampling are considered to be important. The accounts show that this factor is both inhibiting as well as constructive, depending on whether expectations are created successfully or not. Secondly, it speaks for itself that Japanese-owned shops do not face these difficulties in the same way. They do not have to learn Japanese, hire Japanese speaking employees, or face doubts about their implicit knowledge or expertise on Japanese food and its preparation. What exactly can be signified about food by means of constructing symbols of ethnicity, and how country of origin – both in the case of personnel as well as in the case of food products – relates to evaluative practice is further explored in the chapter about authenticity.

5.3. Brands and inventory

The theme of familiarity as a quality continues to run through the discussion of specific food items and even whole inventories. Remarks about the importance of known name-brand products occurred during interviews 2, 4, 8 and 9. Respondent 2's small shop mostly dealt in pre-packaged

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products, alongside a number of freshly made meals. When asked how she knew if a product was any good, she first replied “(…) Because I'm Japanese (…)” before continuing:

R 2: “Well yes, I choose brands, of course, famous brands that have been around for a long time, for example when it comes to sweets you can't go wrong with

Kameda products.”

The utilization of brands as a benchmark of quality is not surprising. To most people who operate in developed mass consumption economies, and even to those outside, the market leaders are the well known brands, instantly recognizable, well established and omnipresent. Nonetheless, in the light of this particular instance, the attraction of brands and their perceived qualities deserves to be explored further. The reason is that the implied quality, resultant of years of exposure and branding, is supplemented by a evaluative tactic that harks back to the statements made in the previous section. Namely, the insurance that expectations will be met. This in itself is elevated to an important quality in a context of scarcity and uncertainty.

For a number of years the company of informant 8 had operated a door-to-door service that sold food and non-food products to Japanese expat communities throughout the Netherlands known in Dutch as an 'SRV-wagon', a kind of truck that functioned as a mobile supermarket. According to my respondent, this service provided customers with a cornucopia of Japanese products. Besides the perhaps obvious comfort of the familiar, there was also doubt and insecurity about the goods sold through Dutch shops, as expat homemakers had no experience with the goods and brand sold there. Facing difficulties in making a decisions about spending, the operators of the SRV-wagon and their imported commodities managed to connect to the knowledge already available amongst those expats. Respondent 9, a young Japanese cook, presented his assessment as follows:

R 9: “I think a lot of Japanese food have a brand, Japanese company. So I use that one, instead of a Chinese brand or Dutch brand.”

I: “Why do you go for the Japanese brand?”

R 9: “Because it's made by Japanese people for Japanese people, it's nice – better flavor.”

Similar to the argument in favor of employing Japanese cooks, a Japanese brand seems to unambiguously confer what is to be expected. There is no evaluative disjuncture between the

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producer's production methods or flavoring and what the end user expects out of the product, or so it seems. As stated in the introduction to the topic of brands and inventories, there is a basis for comparison, a common theme, between food professionals' concerns in regards to fresh food and ready-made items: the risk of an evaluative mismatch is equally present in the preparation of fresh foods and needs to be taken out of the equation. In the words of respondent 4, another young cook, a Japanese name brand functions as a form of “insurance.” He has experience with these product so they are given primacy. He does mention that going blindly by Japanese packaging is not without its drawbacks, as sometimes products have a Japanese packaging but they are not produced in Japan, in which case the taste might not meet his expectations.

Conveying familiarity through product selection is also a possible method mentioned by those respondents who deal in non-branded, (semi-) fresh foods. Informants 6 and 7 both talked about how they strived to emulate the product selections found in shops and warehouses in Japan in as complete a way as possible and to make the products as close to the equivalents found back home.

R 7: “(…) [in Japan] if you go to the bottom floor of a department store you'll find the food section. (…) And if you walk across the fish section, they'll have a big assortment of fresh foods but also a very big assortment of frozen products, naturally. And what you'll find laying there, that's what we also want to offer, as much as possible. (…) That's what we strive for, more or less.”

Businesses that deal in fresh, local foods possibly contend with an extra barrier, due to the fact that most of their products originated from Europe and were made fit for consumption here as opposed to Japan. The efforts of respondents 6 and 7 are examples of employing other referents to home which allow customers to infer similitude, again theoretically before taste and smell factor into evaluation.

R 6: “That experience and the emotion – experiencing home, and longing for – and then that's what you see on your plate. It's food that is identical to a Japanese product. That is a connection that's forever. (…) That we in turn see business in it, well.”

The evaluation and valuation of Japanese food in the Netherlands : how businesses engage with notions of authenticity, value, expertise and pleasure