Nourishing Connections: Chinese Immigrant Identity in Tokyo through Commensality and Hospitality

Authors

Sarai Brown, Brigham Young UniversityFollow

Keywords

Chinese immigrants, identity, commensality, hospitality, Tokyo, kinship, food, hierarchy

Abstract

This paper explores how Chinese immigrants in Tokyo, Japan preserve their cultural identity through practices of commensality and hospitality in stark contrast to Japanese culture. In Chinese culture, hospitality – mainly acts of food sharing – is how kinship relations are built and maintained, eventually growing into an important hierarchy network that ultimately builds a fully realized identity created out of communal belonging. Japanese culture in this sense is not as hospitable, deeming food-sharing as an extremely private and high-risk affair that is considered low-risk in Chinese contexts.

Recommended Citation

Brown, Sarai (2024) "Nourishing Connections: Chinese Immigrant Identity in Tokyo through Commensality and Hospitality," BYU Asian Studies Journal: Vol. 9, Article 3.
Available at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/asj/vol9/iss1/3