Japanese Culture In Theodore Bestor's How Sushi Went Global

The commodification of worldwide cultures has manifested itself in numerous forms. Expressions of culture have been used to create tourist experiences for external participants, to sell goods, and to legitimize claims for land. In all of these cases, the culture that is being commodified and sold is distinct from the original culture from which the commodities are born. In some cases, the original culture is forced to adapt and become easier to commodify, while in other cases it is simply not represented in the product that is presented to consumers. In Paul Stoller’s Money Has No Smell, he examines the life of African traders who sell goods in America, specifically those who trade in New York City. The main commercial focus of these traders …show more content…
As seen in Theodore Bestor’s essay How Sushi Went Global, despite the fact that sushi has become popular worldwide, it is still highly connected to the Japanese culture from which it originates. As a result of this popularity, restaurants and other sushi vendors have changed to mimic Japanese culture, in an attempt to increase sales from customers who believe that Japanese sushi is superior. Bestor cites the example of one chain of Chinese restaurants in America that changed from Chinese to Japanese, because the consumers “couldn’t distinguish between Chinese and Japanese employees” (Bestor 18), but would still believe they were getting a superior product if it came from a Japanese chef. As in the case of Kente, Japanese culture was imitated by persons with no actual connection to the culture, and repackaged so that it would be more readily accepted by …show more content…
The Maasai were the first to develop an eco-tourist conservation lodge, and while it has brought them profits that they would otherwise not have had access to, it has also required them to change their way of life. They have to restrict how much their cattle can graze, so as to preserve land for the wildlife that attracts tourists. The men who work in the lodge are also expected to act in a different way. In the film, one of them remarks that he has to prepare meals for the tourists, when normally the women would prepare meals in his culture. The Himba have similarly had to adapt. Before the lodge was built, they would burn vegetation to drive away dangerous wildlife, but now they have to stop that practice for the sake of attracting tourists. They are also expected by the lodge owner to essentially perform their culture for the tourists who visit their village, and pretend that they are not used to outside visitors. The performance of culture for the sake of tourism also occurs in Latin American countries, albeit in a different context. According to Eva Thorne’s essay Land Rights and Garifuna Identity, Latin American countries grant land rights to indigenous populations based on ethnic claims. Because much of the granted land is so valuable because it is a tourist destination,