Japanese cuisine in Iceland: A story of multiple mobilities

Traditionally, the global spread of Japanese cuisine has been viewed as a result of twentieth-century Japanese emigration. This view, although fitting for many countries, is not helpful for analyzing the case of Iceland with its small Japanese community. Hence, the paper takes special interest in a recent study by James Farrer et al. (2019), who challenge the usual assumptions that Japan is the epicenter for spreading Japanese cuisine, and that key actors are Japanese. As will be demonstrated, not only migration, but also short-term movement of people is highly relevant to the Icelandic experience. Hence, the paper also pays attention to other types of mobilities, namely the “corporeal travel of people” and “the physical movement of objects” as defined by John Urry (2007). The study is mostly based on archival research and content analysis. The paper demonstrates, first, how Icelanders, rather than Japanese and other Asians, have played a leading role when it comes to introducing and spreading Japanese cuisine in Iceland, and second, how emphasis on Japanese authenticity has changed over time.