Halal Food on Japanese Cuisine Through Omotenashi Culture

Halal Food on Japanese Cuisine Through Omotenashi Culture

Written by Roberto Masami Prabowo

Food in Japan has undergone a change of taste, form, presentation, seasoning, cooking methods, how to eat, and so on since the Meiji restoration. But since 2015, there is a new food culture that comes from Middle Eastern countries or Islamic religious culture that is Halal Food. Some Japanese try to eat halal food because of a new eating culture, for health reasons,cheap, and so on. Some Japanese people have felt the benefits of halal food as daily food because it is presented with a najis concept that was close to the concept of omotenashi. Omotenashi is a culture of Japanese hospitality between seller and buyer. This culture is now being activated in field of tourism in Japan, so the tourists feel satisfaction in accordance with his expectations. Japanese has a cultural background of Shinto religion, namely which means true heart. In other words, the
Japanese have a concept of sincerity, pure heart, and uprightness in their daily lives. The purpose of this study is examining the culture of omotenashi against halal food in Japan is to analyze 2 different cultures to find the concept of eating culture. The method will be used for this research is descriptive analysis. Theories and concepts of omotenashi will be used are from Hidekazu Iwamoto, Kensuke Takahashi, Hirofumi Tachibana, and so on. The conclusion of this study will produce an omotenashi culture image of halal food in Japan, a healthy new food, cheap, and can create a friendship between Islamic culture and Japanese culture.

Keywords: halal food, omotenashi, eating culture.

This paper have been presented at SOSHUM 2017, at 12th December 2017, in Jakarta Indonesia.