Format:
1 Online-Ressource (18 Seiten)
Content:
The spring 2020 restaurant shutdown after the outbreak of COVID-19 in Berlin
hit Japanese restaurateurs at the height of the popularity of Japanese cuisine in Germany.
This paper explores how Japanese restaurateurs in Berlin experienced this shutdown from
March to May 2020. Based on fieldwork in Berlin, it asks whether and how they continued
selling food during the shutdown, compares their experiences and points out similarities and
differences that are based on the type of eateries, the restaurateurs’ personal migration histories and the degree of their local embeddedness in Berlin. I pay particular attention to strategies of selling and marketing food during the restaurant shutdown via takeout and delivery
services and discuss the material culture of protecting customers and staff from COVID-19
during and after the lockdown against the backdrop of Japanese restaurateurs’ perceptions
of health risks. The paper focusses on ethnic Japanese restaurateurs because most of their
restaurants are small, independent establishments, and the majority was closed during the
shutdown. Although all research participants belong to the same ethnic community, their experiences during and after the shutdown were quite diverse. I argue that their experiences
and strategies were influenced by economic factors related to the type of restaurant they run
rather than by their ethnicity.
Content:
Peer Reviewed
In:
Berliner Blätter / Herausgegeben von der Gesellschaft für Ethnographie (GfE) und dem Institut für Europäische Ethnologie der Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, : Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 2022, ,2022,86, Seiten 105-122
Language:
English
URN:
urn:nbn:de:kobv:11-110-18452/25089-8
URL:
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