Representation and Cultural Consumption of Mainland Southeast Asia Restaurants in Japan: Between Culinary Openness and the Reproduction of Exoticism

Alpina Pamugari; Herlina Sunarti

doi:10.14710/kiryoku.v10i2.588-602

DOI: https://doi.org/10.14710/kiryoku.v10i2.588-602

Representation and Cultural Consumption of Mainland Southeast Asia Restaurants in Japan: Between Culinary Openness and the Reproduction of Exoticism

Alpina Pamugari , Herlina Sunarti

Darma Persada University, Indonesia

BibTex Citation Data :

@article{KIRYOKU82685,
    author = {Alpina Pamugari and Herlina Sunarti},
    title = {Representation and Cultural Consumption of Mainland Southeast Asia Restaurants in Japan: Between Culinary Openness and the Reproduction of Exoticism},
    journal = {KIRYOKU},
  volume = {10},
    number = {2},
    year = {2026},
    keywords = {culinary openness, exoticism, restaurant,  Southeast Asia},
    abstract = { This study examines how Cambodian, Lao, and Myanmar cuisines are represented and experienced in Japan’s contemporary food culture. It investigates whether the limited visibility of these cuisines signifies cultural inclusion or reproduces symbolic hierarchies that render them \"unique\" yet peripheral. Drawing on frameworks from food studies, postcolonial theory, and symbolic consumption, the research examines how culinary narratives, menu design, and visual iconography construct and mediate exoticism. Employing a qualitative, descriptive–comparative approach, the study combines digital mapping and content analysis of restaurant websites, menus, and social media with secondary data from academic and media sources. Data were collected between June 2024 and June 2025, during which online restaurant information and digital content were systematically documented and analyzed. By comparing these non-dominant cuisines with the more established Thai and Vietnamese representations, the study reveals how Japan’s engagement with Mainland Southeast Asia oscillates between empathy and aestheticized othering. Ultimately, this study argues that Japan’s celebrated “culinary openness” may coexist with subtle forms of symbolic hierarchy, shaping how minority cuisines from Mainland Southeast Asia are positioned within everyday consumption. The findings show that the limited visibility of Cambodian, Lao, and Myanmar cuisines cannot be explained solely by migrant population size. Instead, it is shaped by the interaction of demographic factors, historical ties, and symbolic representations that influence public familiarity. The study contributes to food studies by demonstrating that Japan’s culinary openness coexists with symbolic hierarchies that unevenly position Mainland Southeast Asian cuisines within the country's multicultural foodscape .  },
   issn = {2581-0960},   pages = {588--602}  doi = {10.14710/kiryoku.v10i2.588-602},
    url = {https://ejournal.undip.ac.id/index.php/kiryoku/article/view/82685}
}

Citation Format:

Abstract

This study examines how Cambodian, Lao, and Myanmar cuisines are represented and experienced in Japan’s contemporary food culture. It investigates whether the limited visibility of these cuisines signifies cultural inclusion or reproduces symbolic hierarchies that render them "unique" yet peripheral. Drawing on frameworks from food studies, postcolonial theory, and symbolic consumption, the research examines how culinary narratives, menu design, and visual iconography construct and mediate exoticism. Employing a qualitative, descriptive–comparative approach, the study combines digital mapping and content analysis of restaurant websites, menus, and social media with secondary data from academic and media sources. Data were collected between June 2024 and June 2025, during which online restaurant information and digital content were systematically documented and analyzed. By comparing these non-dominant cuisines with the more established Thai and Vietnamese representations, the study reveals how Japan’s engagement with Mainland Southeast Asia oscillates between empathy and aestheticized othering. Ultimately, this study argues that Japan’s celebrated “culinary openness” may coexist with subtle forms of symbolic hierarchy, shaping how minority cuisines from Mainland Southeast Asia are positioned within everyday consumption. The findings show that the limited visibility of Cambodian, Lao, and Myanmar cuisines cannot be explained solely by migrant population size. Instead, it is shaped by the interaction of demographic factors, historical ties, and symbolic representations that influence public familiarity. The study contributes to food studies by demonstrating that Japan’s culinary openness coexists with symbolic hierarchies that unevenly position Mainland Southeast Asian cuisines within the country's multicultural foodscape.

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Keywords: culinary openness, exoticism, restaurant, Southeast Asia

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In Vol 10, No 2 (2026): Kiryoku: Jurnal Studi Kejepangan (On Progress)

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