THE EFFECT OF JAPANESE ETHNIC CUISINE ON CONSUMING FOOD

PATTERN OF VIETNAMESE PEOPLE

Literature Review
Levi-Strauss (1965,1968) argues that the food or the cuisine of a society reflects
its structure and uncovers contradictions of this society. Hence, changing food
consumption is the refection of changes of social and economic structure of a
society. In the contemporary society in Viet Nam, according to Euromonitor s
research (2015), Japanese cuisine has grown rapidly in line with the increase of
Japanese companies and Japanese immigrants. In the same vein, about 770
Japanese restaurants has opened in Viet Nam to serve Vietnamese rather than
Japanese community with the notion of safety, freshness and healthiness (Jetro,
2015 cited Tuoitrenews; 2015, Eurmonitor, 2015). In addition, Denstu (2014)
states that Vietnam has the highest interest in with Japanese food compared to
other Asian countries. Therefore, the expansion of Japanese culture in Viet Nam
is seen as reflecting in both social structure and economic structure that must
lead to the changes in food consumption of Vietnamese people. Furthermore,
McCracken (1986) asserts that food consumption practices represent as a
discourse of cultural ritual categories which contains similarities and differences
meaning among cultures. As Bourdieu (1984) and Mennel (1985) state these
discourses in food consumption involve production, negotiation and presentation
of identities such as sex, age, and ethnicity. For these reasons, traditional
Vietnamese food consumption when faced with Japanese food culture will be
adapted and changed as a result.
This research will use the theory of acculturation in food consumption to explain
the changes in food consumption patterns in Vietnamese society. Acculturation
refers to changes occurring in either mainstream population or the emigrants
(Padilla, 1980). Acculturation theory was employed to analyse transformations in
consumption patterns of Chinese immigrants in Vietnam in Avelis research

(2005). Additionally, the changes in food consumption patterns were usually only
analysed in relation to political changes and economic growth, which lead to
increases in income and diversity in food choices (Thang, and Popkin, 2003;
Dien, Thang, and Bentley, 2004; Minh, and Paul, 2011). However, changes in
consumption patterns of the mainstream population could also be described with
acculturation theory if there are interactions and contacts between immigrants
and Vietnamese residents. In this case, the research chooses to focus on
Japanese culture as a counter culture instead of China due to two reasons.
Firstly, Chinese immigrants has affected Vietnamese culture since the second
half of the seventeenth century with the collapse of Ming dynasty (Hucker, 1978)
rather than during the contemporary period, and secondly, as Walle and
Gunewarderna (2001) state Vietnamese and Chinese immigrants should be
defined as the same ethnic group because of their similarities in habits and
lifestyles. In other words, Chinese immigrants have experienced full assimilation
in the manner described by Reilly and Wallendorf (1983) who contend that
immigrant s consumptions and behaviour patterns shift over time until are
identical with those of culture of destination. Therefore, this research will
concentrate on analysing the affects of Japanese immigrants as well as
Japanese culture, the dominant ethnic trend in Vietnam, on Vietnamese food
consumption practices and experiences by using acculturation theory.
According to Berry (1980), Hui, Kim and Laroche (1992) the activities of
migration

and

resettlement

have

significant

influence

on

the

cultural

environments in the destination countries. However, research on this area

typically analyses the effect of this environment on the immigrants as term of
assimilation rather than the host population who also experience the common
environment. The assumption of these researchers is that consumption
experiences of immigrants will be a mix of norms of original culture and those of
destination culture (Reilly and Wallindorf, 1983). Furthermore, these assimilations
are unidirectional in the sense that the consumption pattern of immigrants is the
consistent result of cultural values of the host countries that make the cuisine

patterns move toward the mainstream culture. Nevertheless, Levenstein (1985)

and Calvo (1982) argue that ethnicity is the strongest factor that affects the
adaptations of new cuisines, in comparison with age and sex, and different ethnic
groups try to maintain their own eating habits as much as possible. For that
reason, the case of unidirectional change in food consumption is understandable
when the culture of destination countries are overpowering, for example, if an
immigrants move to a country where blocks all ways to import original ingredients
for the immigrants cuisine. Hence, the significance of acculturation which
describes transformations in culture patterns of groups having different cultures
and continuously contacting together (Redfield et al, 1936) will be more suitable
to explain changes and adaptations of new eating habits between ethnic groups.
These contacts can be a direct interaction when groups of people migrate from
one country to another countries, and an indirect one when groups of people are
affected by media or through the experiences of others people ( Andreasen,
1990)
After 2006, Vietnam and Japan signed Vietnam-Japan Economic Partnership
Agreement (VJEPA) which promotes investments from Japan to Vietnam and
also the liberalization of trade in good and services between the two countries
(Vietrade, 2006), leading to the rapidly increase development of Japanese
enterprises and Japanese immigrants into Vietnam. The research argues that the
current rise in Japanese food consumption among Vietnamese consumer is
partly due to the interaction of Vietnamese people with Japanese ethnic group
such as in working or cooperation, as well as, the business activities such as
Japanese restaurant, Japanese supermarket (Jamal, 1996). Then, the frequent
encounters between two different cultural categories of the mainstream and
ethnic communities at these situations lead to changes and adjustments in
Vietnamese consumption experience as well as negotiations and resistances to
these differences (Jamal, 1996), because of difference perceptions and norms
among ethnicities along with their food (Douglas, 1984).
Method

This research focuses on how Vietnamese people adjust and change their food
consumption practices and experiences when interacting with Japanese culture.
Therefore, this research interests in what is the acculturation phenomenon rather
than how many people or what type of people shared this phenomenon as in
descriptive studies, and also do not try to establish any cause- and effect
relationships between other variables as in explanatory studies (Saunders,
Lewis, and Thornhill, 2012). Hence, the nature of this research is exploratory and
should use purely qualitative research to interpret social practices meanings that
is related to acculturation. As Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill (2012) state, there
are many ways to implement this project: searching of the literature, interviewing
experts in the subject, conducting in-depth individual interviews or conducting
focus groups interviews. Because the main purpose of this research is to gain
access to cultural acculturations through food consumption patterns changes
and not to discover what is happen (Saunders, Lewis and Thornhill, 2012), the
research involves two stages which is in-depth individual interviews and a focus
group after arrangements of behavior changes and perspectives in the individual
interviews.
Mennel, Murcott, and Otterloo (1992) state that the food which is supplies from
industrialized countries to developing nations will be not consumed by poor class
but wealthier class; so Janpanese food is assumed to be consumed by middle
class and upperclass in Vietnam. In addition, the research focuses on the
continuous interactions of Vietnamese people with Japanese culture through
directly working with Japanese and indirectly through Japanese food products in
market. Therefore, my target population is middle-class Vietnamese people who
work for Japanese companies and who live around places that is full of Japanese
business. In addition, due to the fact that, my study purely implement qualitative
researches that are not related to statistical characteristics of the population to
sample (Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill, 2012); non-probability techniques are
employed. In the same vein, my research is an exploratory and the work is to
contact people who are in my population is difficult, so snowball sampling is the
most effective way to fulfill my research. For these reason above, the research

draws on a group of 12 middle-class Vietnamese people in Ho Chi Minh City

which includes 6 people who work for Japanese companies and 6 people who
live around Aeon mall- the Japanese biggest recreation Complex in Ho Chi Minh
city, and gathers them through snowball sampling. The research will implement
between March and July 2016.
The methodological designs involve Skype in-depth individual interviews within
30 minutes at the first stage and a focus group discussion will be followed. The
in-depth interviews as mentioned above will implement to 12 Vietnamese people
to gain the sense of changes in food consumption patterns under the effection of
Japanese culture, such as type of Japanese food, ingredients which they usually
consume, or how often and where do they consume Japanese food compared to
the past. After precisely and clearly getting the topic, the focus group is enabled
to record interactive discussion between participants (Carson, et al, 2001,
Krueger and Casey, 2009). Both interview and focus group data are tape
recorded and consequently transcribed verbatim. Moreover, the in-depth
interviews are employed narrative inquire which promotes participants to narrate
his or her experience about a subjects rather than by answering a series of
questions, therefore, doing so will help researchers connect and understand
meanings hiding under interpretations and reactions of narrators (Chase, 2005,
Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill, 2012). Nevertheless, this strategy will easily
involve to ethics problems. Then for eliminating these problems, I have to
honestly announce the projects aims, and objectives to participants (Fyfe, 1992)
as well as guarantee the covert features of the project. In other words, I have to
assure their identity along with gender, age, contact details will be kept
anonymous or pseudonyms for extension methods.
The process of in-depth interview
Preparation process
As Dunn (2005), Maccoby and Maccoby (1954) highlight, interview is a mean
to commit to face-to-face verbal interchanges, because in these situation
interviewer(s) spark up conversation and questions to express their opinions

or beliefs, in comparison with information from others. According to Saunders,

Lewis, and Thornhill (2012), the key of a successful interview is preparation,
which means the interview must be precisely plan following to three main
steps:

preparing topic knowledge, interview themes and information for

interviewee before the interview, location for interviews. Firstly, about topic
knowledge, from literature material and journal from Minh and Paul (2011),
Jamal (1996), Wallendorf and Reilly(1987), I suppose there are nine points
that I can use to encourage the interviewees give more detailed account for
my research:
1. The differences between traditional and contemporary food consumption
2. The differences adaptations Japanese food among age groups, sexes and
generations
3. Cooking at home is along with selection, purchase, preparation and
consumption Japanese foods. How do interviewees gain knowledge about
Japanese ingredients (through Japanese friends, restaurant staffs or
decorations, cooking book, online information)? How do interviewees mixmatch Japanese culinary ingredients with Vietnamese food?
4. What are meanings that produce when interviewees consume Japanese
food? (Wealthy, healthy, fashionable)
5. Are there any initial rejections when the interviewees start to consume
Japanese food or culinary method? (Such as eating uncooked fish, using
a special soybean sauce for each dishes instead of typically use fish
sauce)
6. How do interviewees evaluate quality of Japanese restaurant, Japanese
ingredients brand? What are their criteria to justice products from a new
culture?
7. How often and content do interviewees relate to Japanese food
consumption? (Such as to hang out with friends, to shopping)
8. How do they feel when consume Japanese food or ethnic foods in
compared to traditional foods? (Such as pleasure, excited, exotic)
9. Do they find it is hard to remember the Japanese ingredient names or
Japanese dishes? (Such as wasabi, ebi, wakame, nori)
These points above are basic triggers to evoke and maintain the in-depth
interviews since the interviewer can change and go in-depth with any interesting

ideas related to acculturation that emerge during interviews. Secondly, in the

preparation

process,

developing

themes

and

providing

information

to

interviewees prior to the interviews (in appendix) is a crucial step that affects to
validity and credibility of interviews, as it informs to the interviewees the
background of interviews as well as promotes people to assemble information
from their owns to go through the interviews (Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill,
2012). In order to ensure that I meet the aims of the research task, I also develop
an interview guide (in appendix) or aide-memoire (Burgess, 1982) for myself
which concludes initial questions and probe questions that can use to follow up
responses and obtain greater details from interviewees (King, 2004). The Final
step in the preparation process is to inform interview location, however, because
I conduct the online interviews so the time interview will be more important than
location. To suitably and easily set up time for interviews, I enclose the time
doodle on Google with the theme interviews mail to help the interviewees freely
arrange their time interviews.
Interview process
According to Sweet (2001), online interviews, compared to face-to face
interviews are more convenient and easy to not only build friendly relationship
between interviewees and interviewers, but also facilitate interviewees to be
more open and honest in sharing their responses because of elimination
concerns about confidential. Therefore, in comparison with aspects that
Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill (2012) announce to conduct in-depth interviews, I
consider three main aspects that involve to my online interviews. First of all, it is
opening comments when the interview commences. This part briefly includes an
explanation of my research aim to gain permission of interviewees, and also
establishment my credibility to gain the interviews confidence (in appendix).
Secondly, the approach to questioning by the use of different types of question,
since this is the first time, I implement in-depth interviews, I decide to build an
interview guide, which contains main open questions and probe questions, and
can alternatively edited to be more suitable after each interviews. This route
associated with note-taking will help me avoid sensitive questions, maintain my

concentration, decide which point should be develop further, as well as quickly

summarize points for the interviewees. The final stages of interview process is to
notify the end of the interview, and say thank to the interviewees; give them the
date when I will send the summaries of their interviews to them; and also inform
a focus group which will be implemented after.
The process of focus group
Focus group is not the kind of group interviews, which conducts with intents to
ask participants the same question in turn, and restricts interactions between
participants (Barbour, 2008). However, I feel it best to conduct in-depth focus
groups due to the fact that it can activate discussion and conversation among
participants and encourage participants to contribute towards the topics that are
discussed (Kneale, 2001). After finishing the individual interviews, I have to
categorize ideas that appear in this stage, and from that I will send to the
interviewees the theme interviews of focus group. By doing so, interviewees and
I can defined clearly and precisely the topic and more straightforward to the
interactive discussions in the focus group. In addition, through the focus group, I
hope that it somehow coincidently introduce new aspects with regards to
individual experience with Japanese culture, and enrich the research process
even further, since Kitzinger (1994) and Hay (2010) suggest participants do not
simply agree with each other, but rather than they learn from misunderstand,
question and attempt to persuade each other the reasonings behind their own
points of view; leading to a richer, deeper discussion and consequently more
accurate, valid data.
Pilot study
Pilot study or Pilot test is to refine the questionnaire or questions list whether
respondents have problems in answering the questions and there will be difficulty
in recording the data (Saunders, Lewis, and Thornhill, 2012). In my interviews, I
need to clarify these points by myself as well as ask the interviewees after the
interviews:

How long the interview actually took to complete

There are any questions that needs visual aids

There are any difficulties that prevent the interviewees to answer through

the questions
Whether I record correctly answers

I implemented two in-depth interviews with one who is an employee for a

Japanese company (anonymous as A) and one who is a resident around the
Aeon mall (anonymous as B). In both situations, the interviews took around 40
minutes instead of 30 minutes as I intended, and the structure of the interviews is
liberally develop with each trigger questions, so, it is in control. From the points of
A, she thought that each questions is clarity and separately, as well as the flow of
questions in interviews is quite smooth, but it needs to be clearly categorized into
two main parts which are family and her life with her friend. In addition, the
comments of B is that the questions which is related to names of ingredients
should be came with pictures, since sometimes she can not remember the
Japanese names of these ingredients. Furthermore, I took two interviews in two
different times of a day (one at 7pm and one at 9.30 pm). I realize that people are
willing spent more time for the interview, which is around 9.30pm than 7pm.
Since the interviewee at 7pm is a little unpleasant to answer further questions
while the interviewee at 9.30 pm is happy to answer all questions. Therefore, I
decide to re-state the duration of interviews which is 45 instead of 30 minutes in
the interview theme, restrict register time for interview on doodle, re-arrange the
order of questions and supply pictures of Japanese ingredients.

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Appendix
INTERVIEW THEMES
Dear Sir/Madam

My name is Hien. At present, I am studying at Royal Holloway, University of

London. I write this email to inform the information of the interview which you
accepted to take part in. This interview is implemented to supply for my research
which is aim to explore the changes in consuming food patterns of Vietnamese
people under Japanese ethnic eating. In the research, I intend to discuss these
points:
1. The differences in adoptions Japanese food among age groups, sexes and
generations
2. Cooking at home process is along with selection, purchase, preparation and
consumption Japanese food. How do you mix-match Japanese culinary
ingredients with Vietnamese food?
3. What are meanings that produce when you consume Japanese food?
4. Are there any initial rejections when you start to consume Japanese food or
culinary method?
5. How do you evaluate quality of Japanese restaurant, Japanese ingredients
brand? What are their criteria to justice products of a new culture?
6. How often and content do you relate to Japanese food consumption?
7. How do they feel when consume Japanese food or ethnic foods in compared to
traditional foods?
8. Do they find it is hard to remember the Japanese ingredient names or Japanese
dished?
Thank you in advance for accepting to join my interview. I enclose a doodle form
to support you in choosing the time interview. I look forward to hearing from you
soon
Best regards
Hien

THE INTERVIEW GUIDE

1. To what extent does differences between traditional and contemporary food
consumption happen?
Probe: Within yourself? With your parents? With your friends?
2. The differences adoptions Japanese food among age groups, sexes and
generations
Probe: Are there any differences between your mother and father?

Probe: Are there any differences between you and your peers or your
boyfriends?
3. Do you cook Japanese food at home?
Probe: Do you go to Japanese supermarket or the traditional supermarket to buy
Japanese ingredients?
Probe: How do you gain knowledge about Japanese ingredients (Japanese
friends, restaurant staffs or decorations, cooking book, online information)?
Probe: Do you mix-match Japanese culinary ingredients with Vietnamese food?
4. What are meanings that produce when you consume Japanese food?
Probe: Is that make you feel more wealthier, healthier or more fashionable
5. Are there any initial rejections when you start to consume Japanese food or
culinary method?
Probe: Do you think it is difficult to eat uncooked fish or use special sauces for
each kind of foods? But after tasting eat, you would love these foods
6. How do you evaluate quality of Japanese restaurant, Japanese ingredients
brand?
Probe: What are their criteria to justice products of Japan?
7. How often do you relate to Japanese food consumption?
Probe: Do you often go with your family or friends?
Probe: Why?
8. How do you feel when consume Japanese food?
Probe: Such as pleasure, excited, exotic
Probe: Are you willing to change to eat all Japanese food instead of traditional
foods?
9. Do they find it is hard to remember the Japanese ingredient names or Japanese
dished?
Probe: for example, you usually call m tt instead of wasabi, rong bin

instead of wakame
Extended questions after two times of interview
How do you think about Japanese foods?
Probe: If you have give two words for Japanese food, which words will you give?
Do you refer to eat at the restaurant which is remain all original tastes of
Japanese food or which is harmonized some Vietnamese features?
Probe: Such as sauces or the level of spicy
THE OPENING OF INTERVIEWS
My name is Hien. At present, I am studying at Royal Holloway, University of
London

Thank you for involving my interview. This interview is implemented to supply for
my research thesis which is aim to explore the changes in consuming food

patterns of Vietnamese people under Japanese ethnic eating.

I promise to keep all your personal information in confidentiality and anonymity.
You can stop the interview or deny to answer any questions if you wish
The result of this research and the summary of the interviews will be sent to you

after the project finished

The interview will be recorded by a telephone device