Fake food

Authentic Japanese product’—On the rise of visuality in middlebrow Japanese culinary culture

Bibliographic Data

ID12239884
AuthorsNathan Hopson (0000-0002-1670-1624, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume31
Issue2
Pages254-271
Publication date2018-10-18
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJapan Forum (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0955-5803 • E-ISSN: 1469-932X
PublisherRoutledge (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/09555803.2018.1494206
OpenAlexW2896797332
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited19

Food replicas (shokuhin sanpuru) line the show windows of cafes and restaurants in cities, towns, and villages throughout Japan. They are usually found artfully arranged in restaurant show windows or cases, facing and visible from the street, corridor, hall, etc., on which the restaurant is located. Building on consumers’ familiarity with foods, ingredients, and cooking techniques, these replicas visually evoke other senses – taste, scent, texture, and mouthfeel – instantly providing massive amounts of information. As a ubiquitous visual marketing tool, sanpuru have contributed to the creation and maintenance of Japan’s hybrid national culinary culture, especially the pervasive ‘middlebrow’ echelon of mainstream, everyday consumer culture. In particular, it is argued in this article that, as an inevitable, almost transparently naturalized part of the visual landscape of food and consumer culture, samples have played a crucial but underappreciated role in the establishment and dissemination of the much-remarked-on visual aesthetic of Japanese culinary culture

Advertising · Aesthetics · Art · Business · Food culture · Mainstream · Middlebrow · Political science · Product (mathematics · Sociology · Taste · Visual arts · Culinary Culture and Tourism · Psychology · Marketing

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