Conceptualizing “new craft” jobs in precarious Japan: gastronomic micro-entrepreneurship as care work in an aging society

• In Event: 50260 - Section on Asia and Asian America Roundtables
  In Refereed Roundtable (90 minute): Table 8: Precarity, Labor, and Relational Work Across Asian and Asian American Contexts

Abstract

This study examines the phenomenon of gastronomic micro-entrepreneurship in Japan, focusing on how middle-class individuals, often with higher education credentials, are shifting away from traditional corporate employment to self-owned food-and-beverage (F&B) businesses. Based on a decade-long ethnographic study in a Tokyo neighborhood, this research documents the motivations, economic realities, and social meanings attached to small-scale culinary work. The study involved in-depth interviews with 90 restaurant owners and extensive field observations. Findings reveal that these culinary micro-businesses typically operate with minimal (usually no) staff, often relying on intimate partnerships or occasional volunteer labor. While traditional family-run businesses persist, a growing number of proprietors are newcomers to the trade who lack formal culinary training and have transitioned from corporate careers. Despite economic precarity—characterized by low profits, financial instability, and difficulties supporting a family—many owners express high job satisfaction, prioritizing meaningful work over financial security.

Unlike prevailing narratives of craft work in Western contexts, which emphasize individual self-expression, this study highlights the relational and emotional dimensions of culinary labor in Japan. Owners describe their work not just as food preparation but as a type of personalized care work, fostering close-knit communities among their customers, who are often described as a type of extended family. This emotional labor is particularly significant in a rapidly aging society where social isolation is on the rise. It is also gendered labor, with men and women expressing their care in different fashions, though both engage in emotional work in various ways. Ultimately, while gastronomic micro-entrepreneurship provides fulfillment and social connection, it also reinforces patterns of self-exploitation and financial precarity, with potential demographic consequences such as delayed childbirth and reduced family formation. This study contributes to broader discussions on new forms of craft work, precarious labor, and the shifting meanings of work in contemporary Japan.

Author

• James Farrer, Sophia University