Halt!! That’s not Japanese-enough!!
In a bold move that has many people very upset, starting early 2008 the government of Japan will be sending out “Sushi Police” across the globe to Japanese restaurents to determin if that particular establishment is worthy of being called “Japanese cuisine”.
In what is being billed as an attempt to protect culture, the government is reacting to what appears to be many complains from Japanese citizens who have traveled abroad and where shocked by how they found their cuisine represented in other parts of the world.
Unofficially, the Japanese are reacting to the global take over of Chinese and Korean run Japanese restaurents.
Japanjin has an interested blurb on this news as well available here if you’d like to read further into it. There is also an interesting blurb on this story HERE on this website.
This could go one of two ways. Firstly, it could force low rent “Japanese restaurents” to up the quality and service of the food they are serving. Or two, it could be an entire waste of money and come to absolutly nothing.
Either way, if the sushi police are looking for volunteers, Count me in !!
I’ll go with the latter.
It’ll mean that some Japanese restaurants get to display a sticker and some won’t. The locals won’t care, because they won’t have heard about this scheme, and only some of the Japanese tourists will notice because not all of them will know about the scheme either. All of which makes the huge expenditure look rather foolhardy.
It also seems rather (needlessly, but not unexpectedly) dogmatic. With ethnic cuisine, it’s often tailored to local tastes so of course it will be different. (Just look at Japanese curry.) To talk of ‘authenticity’ seems irrelevant when, for many restaurants, that’s not the point.
But hey, some restauranteurs will welcome a chance to show off an accreditation, though they’ll have to play it up somewhat to stop it going unnoticed.
For others though, the inspectors will be lucky to get in the doors.
November 28th, 2006 at 1:01 pmThe scheme also appears to mirror a certain prevalent and unattractive mindset. Namely, display all the factors we consider authentic Japanese, you get the sticker, you’re accredited ‘Japanese’. Deviate even slightly, no sticker, you’re ‘other’.
November 28th, 2006 at 1:02 pmAnd while I’m on a roll…
The folks who came up with this idea are labouring under the misapprehension that other nations are as keen as they are to build walls to ‘protect culture’, rather than adapt and accept.
Is this kind of ‘cultural policy’ an insight into the future of Abe’s new Patriotism malarkey? Good grief…
November 28th, 2006 at 1:08 pmyeah, but… There are a couple of, if not many, Japanese guides for Japanese in the USA. Jungle and FrontLine are an example. The offer advertisement for Japanese restaurants and markets. They would say in their advertisements if they are or not within these standards. Interesting idea, but we will see. There are toooooo many Thai and Korean restaurants that have sushi as their main items to get business.
November 28th, 2006 at 1:43 pmAny bets on how long it takes before someone is arrested for selling certifications?
November 28th, 2006 at 2:16 pmthailand already does this. The accredit overseas thai restaurants as being authentic
November 28th, 2006 at 2:26 pmDon’t like other countries reinterpreting your food, Japan? How about your own monstrous bastardizations?: “Curry”? Hamburgers without buns? Dinner breads sweeter than dessert? Ebi-mayo pizza?!
Gimme a break…:roll::roll::roll: Japan is chomping at the bit to adapt every culture to their own liking and interpretation, but insist on the “purity” of their own.
Even though it sometimes annoys, I can’t help but love the new intepretations Japan (and every other country) produces. Holidays, food, art, etc. are made into beautiful new forms when subjected to the influence of different cultural context.
November 28th, 2006 at 2:42 pmI support this totally. There is such a mish-mash of Japanese/Korean/Chinese in San Diego that it’s just ridiculous. Every place sells sushi yet gives you kimchee on the side. Not that I don’t mind kimchee, it’s great, but people who don’t know better might think that — gasp! — the Japanese invented Kimchee. Then there’d be a war.
November 28th, 2006 at 3:36 pmWhat will be amusing is when locals decide that they don’t like authentic Japanese food. The restaurants that charge more because the have the sticker (think that sticker will be free?) and use special sushi knives will enjoy a trickle of Japanese tourists for bowls of oden and natto while the New Yorkers will stick to their spider rolls.
Sushi is well on its way to becoming an international without any help from the government.
Though it would be fun to be a sushi-police (in Japanese sushipo?) “Um, yeah. I’m going to need another couple of the fatty tuna, and an ebi before I can determine authenticity. And I ain’t payin’ for this.”
November 28th, 2006 at 4:41 pmDoes the ‘mish-mash’ not taste good then, Peter? Has the quality of the stock dropped because of the ‘inter-breeding’? We’re talking about restaurants, not museums.
November 28th, 2006 at 4:46 pmRemember this?
November 28th, 2006 at 5:27 pmPerhaps this will be the training video for the sushi-po-po.
November 28th, 2006 at 5:33 pm[...] Looking around… saw in interesting little story. Seems that some Japanese tourists get annoyed when they go abroad and then when they decide to eat Japanese food… discover it’s not quite as Japanese as they’d hoped. So, the government is setting up some kind of reviewing system… aka a Sushi Police… to determine if a place can be called ‘Japanese Restaurant’. I’m in too minds over this one. I think it’s a huge waste of money. But, I understand part of the sentiment. I too find it irritating when I want to eat ‘proper’ Japanese food, and end up with a generic Korean/Chinese/Japanese mixed offering. However, there are times, when it’s good to Japanese food ‘localised’ to the local country. I guess, maybe the local restaurants shouldn’t label themselves as authentic Japanese as a lot of the Chinese run ones did in Melbourne. It’s quite amusing in a way though, because the Japanese themselves aren’t exactly guilt free when it comes to ‘localising’ foreign food… I mean, what with wonders such as Ebo-Mayo (Prawn and Mayonaise) Pizza, or their version of Curry. [...]
November 28th, 2006 at 7:46 pmI think dingomick has a good point here. Bloody hell the Japanese have bastardized so many other international cuisines (Japanese pasta - Speghetti and Ikura for instance).
The only problem is, the food including Japanese pasta is damn good! So its an acceptable bastardization i guess.
But yes, lets be honest. Most of us have spent such a long time in Japan eatting authentic sushi that we have a pretty good idea whats good and whats not. And im my opinion there are just too many places in North America that are honestly just substandard…
So in way, I support the idea behind the initiative.
November 28th, 2006 at 9:03 pmIf the idea is to let Japanese tourists know which restaurants will provide the authentic Japanese culinary experience… the tourists in question should all be shot with pellets of their own s***.
November 28th, 2006 at 9:17 pmWhy travel at all if all you want is home?
See yes I do agree that having a “rating” system or something of the sort is good. If people want the business it will generate they will have to up their game and that is good for all of us.
But then again your right.. why fly 5 thousand miles and then look for a slice of home…?
November 28th, 2006 at 9:22 pmthe tourists in question should all be shot with pellets of their own s***.
Beautiful!
November 28th, 2006 at 9:49 pmSeconded!!
November 28th, 2006 at 11:09 pmEU countries have been going wild with trying to trademark names of things like types of cheese, champaign, etc. Moving on to approving “authentic” restaurants is a short step, IMHO.
I wouldn’t mind if they gave some seal of approval. People who care (not just Japanese tourists) will appreciate it. We have two Japanese restaurants in the area. One has a Japanese chef running it and is relatively good. One, as JP noted in his unofficial reason, is run by a Korean family that also run Korean and Chinese restaurants locally. To call their Japanese food anything remotely authentic (or even palatable) would be a lie. The question, though, isn’t in the ethnicity of the ownership, but in the skill of the person making it.
But I also agree on Japanese tourists. They treat international travel like a visit to the zoo. Keep the inhabitants safely behind the glass of the bus windows and tour guide, while you utilize hotels, restaurants and stores that cater to Japanese tastes. Might as well visit the fake foreign land amusement parks in Japan.
November 29th, 2006 at 8:11 amI’m at a major crossroads here. Japan certainly isn’t guilt-free when it comes to bastardization of foreign food.. and I loves me them tarako speghetti.. But nothing bothers me more than being served overly-salty miso soup with eggrolls by a Chinese owned “Japanese” restaurant. Actually though, I would much rather go to a blatant ‘bastardized’ restaurant rather than being ‘fooled’ into entering an authentic Japanese restaurant only to find out it’s a pathetic imitation. That’s actually the worst. Right on the street where I live there are at least 6 sushi restaurants, 5 of which are run by Chinese or Koreans. The Chinese sushi chef is wearing his traditional sushi gear with a Japanese flag-hatchimaki and speaks not a word of Japanese serving me the absolute worst sushi I’ve ever tasted in my life. If their service wasn’t bad enough (very un-Japanese), their coconut-shrimp tempura roll is even worse (no, I didn’t order it), and your most standard tuna or salmon had been sitting in their freezer for at least a week — you can taste it. I dare say (with no offense to my Chinese/Korean friends) that they absolutely do not appreciate or comprehend the intricacies of fine Japanese cuisine. Of course there are exceptions, but Japanese food prepared by your typical Chinese/Korean business-minded restaurant entrepreneurs quite frankly tastes like sh_t. The same hands that have tossed beef and broccoli in a scorching wok for the past twenty years cannot make the perfect tempura batter only a seasoned Japanese chef is able to execute. I’m sorry, but it’s true. Even my Japanese food-savvy caucasian friends realize this. They know what’s good sushi and what’s not, they know what’s greasy and what’s not. The worst is when somebody tells me they didn’t like sushi (or any other Japanese food) the first three times they’ve tried it, and I come to find out they’ve tried it at their local Korean sushi restaurant. Well of course you didn’t like it! Misrepresentation is worse than bastardization when it comes to traditional cuisine.
November 29th, 2006 at 1:36 pmBut its only Raw fish on Rice right!
November 29th, 2006 at 7:38 pmCalifornia rolls and some of the Hawaiian Sushi is rather good a new twist on an old idea.
“Right on the street where I live there are at least 6 sushi restaurants, 5 of which are run by Chinese or Koreans. The Chinese sushi chef is wearing his traditional sushi gear with a Japanese flag-hatchimaki and speaks not a word of Japanese serving me the absolute worst sushi I’ve ever tasted in my life.”
What I don’t understand is the fact that lots of Chinese or Korean restaurant owners and waiters try to pretend to be Japanese.
Koreans Pose as Japanese for $500 Per Month
November 29th, 2006 at 9:00 pmhttp://english.pravda.ru/fun/2002/10/11/38032.html
I just want to jump in here and say that you don’t need to be Japanese in order to make great Japanese food…
I think that is very important to say.
The concern I have is that I think its very sleazy that Chinese particularly pay their staff terrible wages and make fairly bad food and call it authentic. But its also the fault of the individuals who go and support those horrid places are also to blame…
just my opinion…
November 29th, 2006 at 9:09 pm“don’t need to be Japanese in order to make great Japanese food…”
I dunno about that. I have met very few Asians (none, in fact, that I can recall at the moment) who can even turn out a decent hamburger, which should be rather straightforward. There’s more to it than just following the recipe - there is a cultural component. The chef has to really “get it.”
If it’s that hard to “get” the concept of a humble hamburger, imagine the effort involved in learning the sushi concept.
I am sure there are foreigners who are up to the task, but they would be exceptions.
November 29th, 2006 at 9:43 pmOh, I forgot to offer my opinion about the whole sushi police thing.
Besides being stupid, it’s an obvious scam to give a select few some easy money and overseas junkets.
November 29th, 2006 at 9:46 pmInteresting. . . It sounds as if what a chef looks like in other countries is more important than his actual knowledge of or skill at preparing Japanese cuisine.
Kind of reminds you of the English conversation business in Japan, doesn’t it?
November 29th, 2006 at 10:29 pm[...] of us got a pretty good laugh at the notion of Japanese government sushi police fanning out around the globe to monitor the authenticity and quality of Wafuu fare. However, a [...]
May 15th, 2007 at 12:00 pm