|
Theodore
C. Bestor is Professor of Anthropology and Japanese Studies at Harvard
University, and is past president of the American Anthropological
Association’s East Asian Studies Section and the Society for Urban
Anthropology. His many publications include: “Neighborhood Tokyo” (1989),” Doing
Fieldwork in Japan” (co-editor, 2003), and his most recent, “Tsukiji:
The Fish Market at the Center of the World” (2004). His current research
looks at the development of Japanese food culture and his ongoing project
on “Global Sushi” examines the “global reach” of
Japanese seafood markets, their impact on markets and fish industries,
and the popularity of sushi and other types of Japanese foods..
1.
Background
2.
Neighborhood Tokyo: Miyamoto-cho
3.
Tokyo's Tsukiji: The Fish Market and the Center of
the World
4.
Japanese Food Culture: Looking at Sushi as
a Japanese Food and Icon
5.
Issues of Food Safety and Hygiene
6.
Lessons to be Learned from the Field: Linking Kansas
with Japan
7. Concluding
Thoughts Concluding Thoughts
L: My last question—what advice would you give
to budding researchers and scholars?
B: Be patient. One of the things I’ve come to
realize is—and it sort of came out in the things
I was saying earlier that you were asking me—is
the role of chance, the role of luck. People introducing
you to things. If you’re interested in a foreign
culture, you’d have to set aside your preconceptions
of what the connections are. It’s only by immersing
yourself in the unknown, and letting people point you
in different directions, that you’ll find out
what’s important to them.
L: It’s the scary part of fieldwork, but also
the fun part.
B: It’s the fun part of fieldwork. If I ever
reached a point that I felt that going to Japan was
utterly predictable, then I’d probably want to
do something else. Because what is always interesting
is the unexpected connection of the place—where
I think I’m looking at family businesses and
suddenly people say you should actually be looking
at the fish or you should be looking at the sushi.
And where they will be pointing me next—I don’t
know.
L: You started as a fifteen-year-old, living in Japan--who
would think you would end up doing research on Tsukiji.
And even thirteen years earlier, you had been introduced
to the market but didn’t think of doing your
research on Tsukiji at that time.
B: Right. Like many things, a fascinating
experience that I tucked away in the back of my head.
I’ve
been putting things in the back of my head long enough
now that pulling out the connections is sort of the
fun part. It’s like rummaging through an old
filing cabinet, and finding something [and thinking], “Oh,
that’s interesting! What connects to that?” The
most important thing is to stay open to new experiences
and listen to what people tell you.
L: And be patient.
B: Yes--be patient.
L: Thank you very much. I enjoyed talking with you.
B: Thank you very much.
|
