Abstract: This presentation is a multimodal visual ethnography of drinking establishments such as izakaya (“Japanese pubs”) and tachinomiya (“standing bars”) in Japan before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. The focus will be on a 40-year-old standing bar in Osaka called Tenbun. Tenbun serves many kinds of alcohol and food items and has a lively atmosphere with plenty of colorful characters, including the owner, employees and regular customers. Not only is it a popular place to eat and drink, it is an important setting for socialization. This study is based upon over two years of dedicated participant-observation and photography, a photo exhibition and other post-fieldwork encounters. COVID-19 has brought changes for eating and drinking establishments in terms of safety precautions and consumption behavior; many shops have been forced to close. Tenbun closed shop in March, 2020. This research project examines the intersection of food anthropology, multimodal research methods, recent research on drinking establishments and the plethora of “foodie” media productions. It has also become a form of salvage ethnography. My data and photographs not only preserve Tenbun but also document the eating, drinking and socializing habits of Japan before the COVID-19 pandemic.
SUNY Brockport, Brockport, New York
October 1, 2021 - Session A1
11:00 AM - 12:30 PM EDT (12:00 - 1:30 AM, Oct. 2 Japan time)
via Zoom (conference registration required)
For information on the conference and program:
https://www.brockport.edu/academics/conferences/new_york_asian_studies/
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