Ethnic Food As Tourism Resources

This paper aims to examine ethnic food as one of the tourism resources, based on field research conducted in ethnic town in Yokohama city. In Tsurumi ward, Yokohama city, historically many ethnic minorities including Okinawan, Korean, Chinese and Nikkei Latin American (Brazilian, Bolivian and Argentine etc.) have moved to work in industrial complex of coastal areas. Such immigrants have made this area multiethnic. Since 1990s the ward office and travel companies have introduced this town as a multicultural site for development of the region and shopping streets. Because of the scarce touristic place, they promoted ethnic restaurants where before only migrants used. Nowadays, some tourists visit this town and enjoy having Okinawa Soba (noodle of Okinawa), churrasco (Brazilian BBQ) in ethnic restaurants. During an urban ethnic festival here, ethnic food booths attract visitors. Tourists talk about their experiences of cuisines and put photos of food in blogs and Facebook rather than towns scenery.

However, most tourists’ experiences are superficial. Although ethnic restaurants’ chefs change flavor to suit Japanese tourists’ taste, most of tourists think their ethnic food authentic. Guidebooks and festivals become tools which merely consume migrants’ food as a touristic appeal. In the restaurants, the collective ethnic fantasy presented stereotypic ethnic foods to dramatize the myth of ethnic solidarity. The festival is a way to embed various ethnic groups as a group of “foreigners” who offers novelty items for Japanese.

Taking a tour through these sensuous landscapes, this paper charts an exploratory excursion through arguments that address 'authenticity', touristic reinvention, and cross-cultural encounters through food within the 'mixed' spaces and contradictory imperatives of postcolonial cities.