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NEW
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r$
Diffusion of fapanese Culture in Bangladesh
via JaPanese Restaurants
Abdullah-Al-Mamtn
Abstract
A little research hss been undertqken on tlrc dift'trsiott of lapnnese culture
in Bangladesh,This article contributes t0 the liternture of ]apnnese Studies
and Soiiology by in-oestigating the diffusion of lapanese culture aia. Japanese
restaurnnts'in lianglndesh.Finiings oJ this qunlitatitt resear,h prouide strong
eaidence to sr'Lggesi that thenumber of lnpnuese restnuto,llt.s is in.crctsing and
Iapanese food ii beconinq incrensittgly poylat in Bnngladrsh Tht'populnrily
'nf'lroorrse food can bc ittributrd ti t:nrior'rs fnctors, including the use of less
-i'niridirrtr.' lr"rhncss, laslcnnd people.' rcmnon belief lhnt- ]np'mese food is
Iteiltltu. Hotieoer, rc5l0urnnls arc [a(int a fe;t' prol'lcnt' iu runttitts lfu l'r'sincss
for cximple, Iocalltl unattnilability of ingredients, high price of ingrediettts, and
'liuited aworenessibouL InpmestJood.Tlrc study rerteals Llnt Iipaneserestaurants
are difusittg ln1rrtnese orittrrrrl elenents strch as t'ood, culinary nrt, langtLagc,.
greetiigs airl'crrstoms, diwreriudre, cusfoms of dittitrg, blterior decoratiott ntld
art, photograplry nnd Paintings.
1. Introduction
Transnational cultural elementsregardlessof material or nonmaterial
has become more mobile in recent years than in the past due to social
media platforms, YouTube, internet, mass media, and increased tourism'
Tladitionall)-, embassies, multi-national companies, -and international
organizations such as the World Bank, lnternational Monetarl' Fund,
Asian Development Bank, and various UN organisations and UN peace
keepers, howlver, also act as media to transmit transnational culture'
Cultural elements are continuously crossing national bordersinespective
of fashion, cuisines, food, accessories, music, customs, words anci arts
influencing traditional culture and customs of countries across the globe
(Schaefer, 2011; Little et al., 2014). For examPle, the North American snorv
i dovs lo",e Srisll and Snsftirti and today People in Asian enioy Brrrrifos
and iaco. Nonetheless, food is one of the fast diffusing cultural elements
because of frequent movements of the people and tht growing arvareness
and interest created owing to internet and the social media This attraction
of people to transnationa*ood has led to the establishment of the country-
specific restaurant such as Italian, Mexican, Thai, Chinese or Japanese'
T'hese restaurants not only sell food but also diffuse cultural elements of
the counhies of their origin
With no excePtion, the number of country-specific restaurants is
increasing in Bangladesh. Due to economic developmelt and change in
lifestyle, ihe people in Bangladesh, especially city dweliers in metropolis
tlke 6naka and inittagong, are now a days visiting restaurants often than
the past for daily meals (Iilam & Ullah, 2010). Along with the traditional
restaurants, an ethnic restaurant that sells food of different countries
or ethnic groups (Cwiertka, 2005) is becoming a popular destination of
food loveri. Indian, Thai and Chinese restaurantssetup by entrepreneurs
Japanese Studies inSouthAsia tr Diffusion of Japanese Culture 139
mostly in the 1990s have become very popular uTo"q.lh: masses The
ooouiaritv of Chinese restaurant has reachedsuch a level that one will find
thln""" .lrturr.unts even in beside a narrow road of a Municipality' Watd
orin small towns. Moreovet, even a village woman has learnt fllc culi,.:lr.
,t l" of Chi.r"a" foodtoo and prepares ifas an occasional or f"'itjl il l1re^l
f.i', her familv However, Indiin restaurants have not gro rn'i: as i: ruch as the
Chinese restaurants. Thai foods are now included in the mentr of Chinese
restaurant,with a few Thai restaurants selling exclusive Thi-'i dishes'
ln comparison, nonetheless, Japanese restaurants h'ada late start
ln Bangladish than Chinese or Indian restaurants ln fact' available
informltion shows that JaPanese restaurants commenced the joumey in
the 2000s, and currenily the number has gone to around thirty Howevel
i.,1n" trti firr" y"ars, tlle number of Japanese restaurants is growing and
laoanese food is becoming more popular' [n this conte\t, it is importdnt
io'noi" mnt lapu" is the siigle largesi development partner of Bangladesh
ur-rd i., rece.ri y"u..u .,rttib". of lapa,tuse companies- are investing in
Oungluaesh. In 2010, the number of-JaPanese com-panies in^Bangladesh
-ur'83,*h"r"ut.rrrently the number lras gone well over- 300 (The Daily
Star, 20i0). As a result, the Japanese commnnity is one of the fast-growing
.o-rnr.,ili"t in Bangiadesh'now which, in turn, has helped the growth-
of i"pu""t" restauraits in Bangladesh. This has enabled the diffusion of
"l"^L.rtt of Japanese culture iirch as Japanese food, food presentation'
..,.rt.ir-rn, .r.to^t, art and design. language, tr'lditions and hospitaliry
fhis research, therefore. evaluates the imPact of thc growth o[Japanese
."tiu"i^"tt in Bangladesh from the theoretical perspective of cultural
diffusion.
2, Literature Review
Diffusion of Culture
Sociological theorists define the process oI cultural spreading ftom group
to groulp, society to society, or iountry to country as cultural diffusion
ii.fi^"rJi zolU. e group oischolars in contrast, however' defines cultural
)iir"tl#u. tt-t".tta"nge of culturebecause of the influence of foreign culture
ieihraf & Galot, 2007). this group of scholars excludes.diftusion of culture
l-orlg i.tt"."ui groups of s"ocieiy. Another school.of thougtrt identifies
cliffusion of cult-ure is a creative process of cultural d istrib'rtionand
l"tl"""t tftut l"t"-et and technologi are enabling the diffusion of culture
faster. This school, in fact, considers business organisations as a strong
unencv of c.rtturul diffusion (Rae, 2005)' However, the debate is whether
.Xt-,-rr'l aiff,rtio" enriches a culture or posesa threat to the traditional
""it"r". fa is argued in favour of culturil diffusion that it exPands the
flo.iror"t of cultire and enriches culture of a particuLrr group or societr-'
However, newly appeared culture vie diltusion can be predominant over
traditional culture.
Existing literature has identified a mrmber of rneans of cultural
diffusion sich as missit-':rarv works, lnilrtar\ interyentions' mass media'
social media, internet, toir'i: rr' and restruraltts (Schaefer' 2011) \bu Tube
in t".""t times has emels,jrl rq a po\\erful medium of culturai diffusjon
140 Abdullah-A]-Mamun
(Xu et al., 2015) because YouTube videos are easily replicable and-imitable
by viewers that helps a certain cultural aspect-spread quickly. (Shifman'
zdfZl. It is argued'that in terms of cultural diffusion, material culture
diffuses relatiiely quicker than nonmaterial culture, for example, food or
country-specific iesiaurants (Schaefer, 2011). "McDonaldization" is one of
the unique examples of the expansion of intemational food chains that
gr"* ,r"'ry fast aiter the 1990s. Sociologisis symbolically use the word
TMcDonaldization" in explaining the diffusion of culture or combination
of cultural elements (Ritzir, 2015). However, McDonald's reviewed their
marketing strategy by adding a Iocal taste in food items and customized
their menir acrosJiheworld; fior example, Japanese clients can enioy Mega
Tamago Burger and indians can eat Maharaja Mac (Schaefer, 2011)' That
localisation & fusion has contdbuted to the fast growth and Popularity of
McDonald's.
Available literature also points to State patronisation of cultural
diffusion of a particular culture or elements of culture to devclop an
intemational image or as Part of cultural imperiaiism (Otmazgin, 2008)'
For example, a research concludes that the South Korealr Sutcmment
has a deiicated Policy to promote Korean popular culture (K-pop)
internationally 0d 2006). lapan, on thc L'ther hani, has a designated
organisation, iapan Foundatior,, to Promote J apanese-culture worldwide'
However, cljffrtsion oi a specific culture or cultural element does not
necersariiy depend trtr the economic or political strength of the country of
origin ot tirat dture; rather, diffusion depends on -the poPularity or wider
acc"eptance, for example, Korean popular culture- K-pop (Xu et al',2015)'
Diffusion of culture is also an integral part of globalisation, although
globalisation in much of the scholarlv di:'cuss'on has been seen from the
ii"*p"i", of economic, trade, and 'sea-I""s movement of people and
services (Mayer & Timberlake, 2014; Little et al., 2014). Nonetheless, studies
reveal that fictors such as geoglaphic proximity, Ianguage and historic
relationship contribute to the diffusion oi cult,rre (Moon et al , 201C),
for instance, the diftusion of Japanese popular cuiture in nearby Asi"'rl
countries (Cho,2011). Several studies suggest the iikelihood of cultuml
imperialism in the wake of cultural diffusion, pointir'g io how the Western
cuiture enjoys superiority over the third world culture iVestern culture,in
'rhe name oi g1obil culture,is sPonsored by capitalism, consumerism and
consumer cuiture, along with ihe growth o1 1a;115n31itrnal I aedia such as
CNN, BBC, or \BC 1Doda,2005) and the West-based sociai media'
Currently, the pace of diffusion of culture is accelcrating owing to
tremendous iechnological advancements;as a matter of fact, cross country
distribution of cultur;l elements has increased than ever before (Schaefer,
2011). On the one hand, internet, smartphones with immcnse caPacity,
a number of social media platforms, for example, Facebook, Instagram,
Twitter, Vibet WhatsApp and mass media, for instance, \buTube, online
streaming of television ^channels and online newspapers ate not only
bringing"people closer but also providing, peopJe with the.opportunity
to bJ a{uainled with transnational food, fashion, arts, music, Iiterature,
news, laws, and so on. On the other hand, technological advancement
Japanese Studies in South Asia tr Diffusion ofJapanese Culhrre 141
in communication has increased toudsm and interaction of people from
different cultures, thereby contributing to cultural diffusion For instance,
Baneladeshis istraveling abroad retum home with an appreciation of
Japa"nese tempura or Brliish fish arrd chips while the Japanese people have
an appetite for Italian pizza or Indian biryani.
Japanese Restaurants and Diffusion of Culture
]apanese rebtaurantsare one of the fast-growing restaurant cdtegories in
ihi world and a major growth has beun *itnesseducross Asia In the vears-
2077 and 2019, Japane"se restaurants grew around 307i a1d irr- terms of
number, these restaurants have grown from 118,000 in 2017 to 156,000 in
2019. In the same years, the growth rate in North America was 20'lo, in Latin
America 30%, and in the -ceania region 40'% (Ministry of Agriculture,
Forestry and Fisheries Survey, cited inMatsuo, 2020)
Srshl is the first Japanese food to become popular aroundthe world'
In th€ 1970s, the heaith consciors people in the US and Europe identified
Srs/ri as a healthy Iood. This trend *as also visible among the Japan's
neighbours in A;ia 0ETRO, 2013). However, Japanese food was first
intr"oduced in Europe in the 1960s in the form of groceries, especially in
the UK France and the Netherlands. Japanese food, in time, has become
popular across Europe and now Japanese restaurants- are omnipresent
iCwiertka, 2005). Eventually, traditional Japanese meal avith soup' rice'
a main dish, two side dishei and a dessert gained popularity due to the
oerceotion of a balanced diet tull with nutrients such as carbohydrates,
protein, minerals and Yitamin oETRO, 2013). Interesiingly,. Japanese
icstaurants appeared ir, Russia in iile late 1990s relatively later than
other Eutopean counties. Holvever, ihe number of Japanese iestaurants
increased very quickly in the mid-2000s and the number of restaurants in
Moscow alone was 300. In ZOO9, Moscow and St. Petersburg had 1000 and
300 restaurants, respectively (Panibratov, 2012).
There is a percePtion among people across the world that the
nutritional imbaiance -caused due to a very busy and crazy lifestyle can
be addressed by the intake of the health)' lapanese food;-they attribute
the secret of the longJiving Japanese to such healthy ]apanese food
(Tokyo Sushi Acad"mf, zOZOI tt e e"listment of traditional Japanese food
iWuJnot") as UNESCb's intangible cultural heritage has helped in a big
way by conveying a message to the food Iover to trust and eniol' lapanese
food as u good brand (Nippon-com, 2016). There is a common percePtion
among foid lovers that tiie ingredients of Japanese food are nuffitional'
with h"igh quality and as being-healthy These factors havenot.only l.relped
incr"usE th" number of Japanese food lovers but also contributed to the
growingnumber of Japanese restaurants across the $'orld These, in turn'
Jncortiged the food industry iruestors worldn'ide to invest in JaPanese
restaurants; obviously, this has led to the number of JaPanese restaurants
increashg every y"ui 1Nippo.,..ott.,, 2018).Another encouraging factor for
Japaneseiestaurint owneri is the popularity of Japanese food among the
^iddl".lutt; u. u tesult, Japanese food is now the third most poprrlar food
in the world after Italian and Chinese (Kramer, 2020)'
142 Abdullah-Al-Mamun
A studv conducted in 2009 interviewed 421 Americans to rank six
A"# ;i;i"* ai;""", t.,aio", 1'pu"ese, Korean' Thai' Vietnamese - and
concluded that Japanese cuisine is the most popular among Amerlcan
iooJ lo""*. ff-ti. ttudy suggested that Japanese food is popular among the
,q-"ri.rn oeople beciuse it is tasty, edi6le, high qudlity' fresh' digestible
i;;;';i;;;d ;"un, ,.ornuti., healthv and itt'icti"e; additionallv' the
respondents found the Japanese food'nutritionally balanced'.colourful'
;ttti;;il-;;g;table ctmponent, besides beingneat and.clean (Jang
;;';i., ;0011: T#- Jutu i, iid""d encouraging ior those involved in
,"rir.i.u"i i".i""ss and has helped the growth of Japanese restaurants
r i.rr-i.". 2016).lt may be noted thatthe 6usiness oI Japanese restauranl
;;;;;;";^l;"loi"J pl.,"no,''"non ln real terms' due lo the changes in
;il H*; tasteof people and their fascination for ethnic restaurants' it
;;r il#";-,.o-fiiull" it *"tt (Cwiertka, 2005) Japanese restaurantshave
ffi;;;H ;piJly in th" ASEAN countries in the Iast few decades;
i.r "-r-pi", rdituria nua 2126 restaurants in 2015 The increase in the
number of Japanese restaurantsis also linked with people's lifestyle -and
rrf"" .f.""*Ll -rth Japanese food increasingly becomin-g,everyday food
;;;;?if;";;iiiJa io t"tti,ult ot formaloccasiorLs (Mivamoto' 2017)'
i"out "t" food is popular in Malaysia and ]apanese food and beverage
'".fi;;"; *.J*i'.te il-t"." lnadli et al , zor^o) studies have also found
ir.titarr"" .""iiir"t-tir.tt ut China, Hong Kong and Ko:ea as a popular
il;;;;;;f i^P*ese food and foocl inldustrf . tt-u;| $tllaga' 20oa)
i;;;;; t";J-parison to America,.Europe and AsEAN' the popularity
,,f'l"o-"r" food and the number ol Japanese resldurdnts are limited in
i;iffi;; i;s;rf r-,ljr',"'.r,t. people u'e the-clients' andlhdt too mostlv
in big cities Delhiand Mumbai tlANS,2013; I ntsnews' zulu)'
A venture such as a restaurant facilitates transfer of knowledge and-
,titt, u.ti a-ifzur"t cultural elements For example' in terms of expansion of
loo"r-r"r" ,"rturrrnts in Europe, most of the new entrepreneurs hired che[s
'"tiJ "rf.r"t *ff. I rom the eiisting reslaurants (Cwiertka' 2005)' In most
.iit " *.". in Russia, only Japaiese cooks were aPPointed for the first
f".- *".t r. tt"i" local cooks jnd, afterwards' these local-cooks replaced
ii" r"t"."* .t"ks ipanibratou, 2012) Thus' culinary skills or cuisine
."lt"r! *"it r"rrer from one individual to another. Japanese restaurants
;;;;;#".'A;;;i; onJ eseeN helped sprecd out of JJpanese food in the
H;i;:;; i;;;; rooJ in u n'-be' or 'o'-t'ies become part or dailv
iri", r,it "',rtiipr", America or the UK' Thespread of .Japanese restaurants
ol"o aifzur"i JaPanese customs, hn"X-it3.l'.ty: t:lil:ty^gj, and food
or"r"ni.tion in'Europe, Amcrica and ASEAN (Cwiertka' 2005) However'
5ilies ;; ;t';;i iiui ,",tu"utttt focus only on business' for example'
jupu.t""" t".turtunts in Thailand (Miyamoto' 2017)'
Recent Trend of Food Consumption in Bangladesh
Due to a number of factors, for example' economic developmelt'
*..""*a awareness about food items created by the social media'
i"i.ui'lon ona print med ia stories a nd grow th o[ ed uca tion'the food habits
.i el";r;i",hl. .irv J*ettett in Bang'iadesh is changing (lslam & Ullah'
; rc,. i;;;;i;iy.'these city residenis tend to errloy ftrr'd [tr-rttr rrut'iJt so
JaPanese Studies in South Asia tr Diffusion of Japanese Culture 143
as to avoid cooking at home, and {amilies Prefer to go to the restaurant as a
leiiure trip. ln selecting the restauiant' people are eiploring diffetent lood
"'"1il1] "5" 'i ,."- *.u8itlo.', r rooJ una tnJ utt"ud y popula r fast lood ' and
Cii."."-i"J fflri food. Among others, Turkish' Mexican'-Italian' Korean
".;;;r;;";iaurants u'e becoming favourite options for.them while
families choose to visit these reslaur"ants during the weekends office
#;:);;;;; "ra gr""pt o{ fiiends drop into suchrestaurdnts in the
weekdavs.ThedemancltorrestaurantftrodinthecaPitalCityDhaka
;;;ilJ;.i;'H;i;l;;;;"i ;""sions and special orders (Rabbi et a1 '
?01j). fhe Dhaka consumers consider qualitv, rariation'. location' price'
L.*'.i f""a, cost, acce5sibitity' clcanliness' orerall ambience' prtvacy'
tr"a "^t*, i"*rng and securitv, and exha facilities such as kids'paying
,""" * titiiri e 1L""^ 1t uu"'"1 et Rahman' 2012; Islam &- Ullah' 2010;
ffi'",i'oi;;fi;"iur., ior+, r.r"* "t al., 2018,Tinne, 2012) Interestinglv'
;;" ti;;;;;;;; that gender also influences the selection-of a restaurant
irii'^ffii,'ilil1. rurJ.""ot"l, 'r.," '=ttaurant selection also depends on the
lg"'g.""p'"l,fr"'.1ients (Farhana & lslam' 2011) Ho'rever' customers have
dissJtistdctior uver prlce, quattrr 'lnd 'la[l servtce (Rahman etal ' 2012)'
This literature lsvigu' precisetf insPects means of cultural diffusion'
"rp*.iuIy Jifrttlon of c'li're via'restaurants lt also reriews literature
related to the Percephon ol PeoPlc aboutJapanese food' its.popularitv and
the eruwl.h ol Jdpdn"r" '""uu'unt' *orliwide Furlher' it in\eslig'rtes the
.hri;;;;;;,:;;i food habits "6 snnglaiqshi nationals and their recent
^'olarcncec in lermsot rnternatronal fool including the factors that Dhaka
:il;;.,];;.il ;"."i".'i,. ' itit'f i '"'tu"untilowever' I ntrmber or
;rii it ::il,.t':::il;[ :]il[?]':Tll';^I]: :":[x?" x::'i'Ii:
;l;"'H; [1,;;;i "l;;;it whereas the fact is that a number of elements
li',i","ii"i ."r*te diffuse through ''uch rest'rur'rnts Morcoler' eristing
iii"rr*r"- ""ilrl"t provides muih information about the growth of
ffi;H;;""*nti in rattgtuaesn norespecialll' the diffusion of culture
through the lapanese restaurants' Therefore' thii research attempts to fill
+ho"a oanc hv examining the role of the ]apanese restaurants in diffusing
i:;;:;Jili#'il;;ig;;;'h to underpin the obiecti'es' this studv
answers th" following research questions:
a) What is the current growth trend of Japanese restaurants in
"' ;"r";i.i"th';J'r-t"* -at o*""rs munoge the operation of the
restaurants?
b1 Are Japanese restdur,itrts diffusing Japane:" tllfy'" in Bangladesh
and what:pecific cultural elements are lrelnB oltruseu:
3. MethodologY
This research ad"opts a qualitative mode of inquirv' combinir.rg an abductive
aooroach and case sttrdl ,trot"gt i f'e Lhema'tic data analysis.technique of
ii5.,i1"r"i'c,"*" 1ido,i,'i' "piri"a to dn'rl)'se ddra using NVi\o to code
transcribe data for Senerating themes'
Bothprimarl' aid secondiry data are the sources-ofthis studY Fourteen
interviews of restaurant owneri, chefs, managers' supervisors and waiters
144 Abdullah-Al-Mamun
were conducted in two phases-November 2019 and Septemler 2020'
i"i"r"r"*""t "t" identified with serial number as shown in the Appendix'
*itf, th" ,"riul .,rmberbeing used to cite an interviewee in the discussion'
ii"" i" "ppri.",ion of th-e theory -matching. t":h''i9": of abductive
oooroach and case study strategy of this research'a lew intervlewees were
iritir..i"-"au .".ond or'third time while the daia analysis was in progress
ii;;; I eJ;;, 2002). A semi-structured questionnaire wdtten in the
l.,.al lansuase, Bengali, was used for the purpose o[ the interview' while
"]i;i;;tl";". ;"te ioted and transcribed ir English for coding A variety
oi ao."-""o has been examined to generate secordary data for this
reseurch which, perhaps,was not yet afpraised by the-previous shrdies'
itri, ."."ut.tt pays close attention to research ethics ResPondents were
;ili;;;;;i ihl purPose of the research and their consent was taken
;;-;i ""r;"", lf neces6ary. However, anonymity is given to a couple of
.".oondents dnticipating harm or negative tons"q'"nces Braun and
efrl;t ;i;.*rt ti data"ar.ralysis are fo'ilou ed to analyse the data (Braun
;Ari;; 'iooll i* familiJrisation with the data' generatirLg initial
.ra"t .""..ru"g for the themes, reviewing,for themes' defining and
.ru-in* th"."r""nd producing the rePort All tourteen interviews and
il;;?;i;;;;" tead'and re-re"ad to tuily familiarisewith thei,itial ideas
Srir"o"*tfv NVivo dala analysis software was used to code lranscribe
i"i". irt"t i t"uust examination, codes were primarily cateSorised as
"t ifa-"oa"t and child-nodes as parents-nodes' In outlining primary
it "^"t-fa""', parents-node, attenti-on was given to pattern and nature'
homoseneiw and commonness of data arid alignment' and ability of
l"i"lB .."iiu"," to ,"seutch questions' Primary themes were reviewed
,r.inn rt " memo, note and mind-map option of NVir o and' by-:o doing'
the rihole datd set was analysed in a conliruous brck and lorlh Process'
pi.,attv, ttree tt e^eswere identified and named after critical examinations
il; ;fi;;;"Ji" the research questions To improve clarily ard bettcr
""IJl"ai"g .f the readers, several interviews ire directly quoted in the
analytical sections of this study'
4. Limitations of the Study and Scope of Future Research
This study has examined the exPansion of Japanese. restaurants in
aonsladesh from the theoretical PersPective of cultural -diffusion
;;;"t;;; the study ercludes comprehensive discussion of Japanese
i."i ""J'U"y..t' ch'oice Primary daia of this research was collectedonly
iro- tt-r" o*it"tt or those who work in the restaurants to understand the
reasons behind their decision to open a Japanese restaurant'- selection of
food items, overall management of the reitaurant and the challenges of
.,o".utott.fn"r"tore, the vlews of the customers of the restaurantsare not
reflected in this studY.
It is suggested that the findings and discussion of this study
.r.nuia" orr[irrr,ities lor future reselrch that can inler nli' investiSate
ii" """rlliiw of lapanese lood by interviewinB customers of Japanese
,"t,J"iun". ti wiliaiso be interesting to e\amine the quick expansion or
iltgh ;"p"lr.uy "f Chinese food in "Bangladesh and the lessons that the
Jaianese restaurant ownbrc can Sain from them'
la:ane= Sirrdies ln 9ouir \'-a I E.-.::: :: ::=3- C-i.trre 145
5. Discussion
Recent Grov/th of Japalese Restaurants in Bangladesh
IrLitiallv, lapanese food was available in Bangladesh onlv in fi\'e-star
restaurants or in some standard Bangladeshi or Indian restaurants. This
situation changed after the lar.rnch of the Samdado Japanese Cuishe in
20C1. lnterestingly, only two restaurants were kicked-off between 2001
and2010; the Nagasaki Japanese Restaurant in 2005 and the Izumi Japanese
Kitchen in 2010. However, in the last ten years, more than twenty Japanese
restaurants have been laurched both in the form of physical and online
restaurants among which the Kiyoshi, Sushi Samurai, Tokyo Express,
Ginza, ICHI and the Izumi Japanese Kitchen are well known to Japarese
food lovers. Except the Azuki Express and lchiban in Chittagong, all the
other restaurants are operating in Dhaka. This growing trend has also been
observed in relation to the other ethrfc restaurantsas well, due to factors
such as economic development, awareness about food fromthe social
media, visiting restaurants as part of recreation, change of food habits arrd
lilestyle (lslam & Ullah, 2010). From the available hJormation in the intemet
and from the Japan Extemal Trade Organization , 32 Japanese restaurants,
including online restaurants, can be listed. However, the Facebook and
web page content of these restaurants and information provided by Are
interviewees reveal that out of the 32 listed restaurants, only 21 restaurants
serve Japanese food exclusively while the remaining 11 serve other foods
along with Japanese food. Sushi Tei Bangladesh, lzurni Japanese Kitchery
iCHI Japanese Restaurant, Kyoshi, Umai, Sushi Samurai, Nagasaki
Japanese Restaurant, Ginza Japanese Restaurant, Sumo Sushi Restaurant,
Samdado Japanese Cuisine, Tokyo Kitchen, Tekiya Japanese Cuisine, Tokyo
Express, Midori Japanese Restaurant, Nobu Signature, Izakaya, Azuki
Express, Nobu 7, Yoko ]apanese Restaurant, Sushi King arrd Zushi serve
only Japanese food. Restaurants that sewe Japanese food along with other
cuisines are Man Mo, Crdme de la Crdme Coffee, Fools' Diner, Grandiose
Restaurant, Master chef Cuisine, Khulshi Hill, Burka, TBC- Dhanmondi,
Ichiban, Amarin Japanese Restaurant and I Love My Home.
Il terms of the ownership of the fourteen sampled restauralts, only
two restaurants are owned by Japanese nationals-Nagasaki Japanese
Restaurant and ICHI Japanese Restaurant. Two restaurants, Tokyo
Kitchen and Ginza, arc a ioint venture of Japanese and Bangladeshi
owners. Three restaurants are ownedby Japan lovers who, irl fact, staved
in or visited Japan: Sumo Sushi Restaurant, Tokyo Express and Azuki
Express. Bangladeshi entrepreneurs have ventured into setting up se\:en
restaurants- Sushi Tei Bangladesh, Izumi Japanese Kitchen, Kyoshi, Umai,
Sushi Samurai, Midori Japanese Restaurant and Sushi King.
Food and Management of Japanese Restaurants
Japanese restaurants in Bangladesh offer mainly two types of food-
authentic and fusion. Most of the restaurants offer different types of
Srsh (mostly Salmory Tuna, especially in Maki and Machi type & Scsiiml
(especially Salad), Ternpura, Teriyaki (Chicken, Beef, Salmon, mainly), Udon,
Gyoza, Rice Bowl, Chicken Nanbnn, Ynkitori Chicken, Odenmori, Ramen, all
146 Abdullah-Al-Mamun
tvoesofBenloBox'Chi,kenKalslkl,SeafoodPlatterandroon(hltt'rviewee
i_ i+. ZOt,, g.ZOZO) Ueing no dir tereniirom otnlr ett,,-ric testa urants across the
;:;i;ii;il;;;,'0ii;?oniu*t"u zorz) Bansladeshi JaPanese restaurdnts
offer Japanese fusion toodsJor€1"'"of"' rn r"he Sushi tyPes Ebi meat Sake'
Pink Sakura, Red Orugon,'n"\-tUbyAf i'' L'uu noil' Splder Roll'Tuna
tlil# srti','iill-unE sul'non-st'thi Roll rhese restarrants also serve
Iapanese fusion food such u' tor'J"no it'itften' Happa Chjcken' Yakitori
chicken, Steamed Beet "yo"' jIJ Laon' Shrimp.Shu Mai and Shrimp
;:ffi;: i,:ffi; **z,iozoir"i,.*iewees' zozo; rnterviewee 5' 2020)'
Primarily, the clients of JaPanese restaurants are Bangladeshi nationals
who have stayed in Japan tor u ""*t"t of years' moitly 'fot education
or emplovment, and those who have visited'lapan for business training
H",;;;i.;'ai;;;,.ui"*"" a' zoz6i'uo*"u"'"dy" 1? Ih" so-cjar media
and YouTube food lovers' in general' are overfed with food inJorma[ion
l""r."i ''i".t ".a ''p"tffit uihnil cuisine (lslam & UIlah 20l0: Xu et
al.. 2015; Shifman, 2OfZ) gecau;e of ontine tooa reviews' especially in
YouTube Channels a'-td Faceuol"k'Jth" t"ttul"u'-ttt ttLe11el11' as wett
as those of independent food?ui"-""' food lovers are' increasingly
;il;ili;tii;r with various ethnic foods that tempt them to test a
ff ioo8 (il;i.;;";; t w"n'iolar' lnterviewees inaicated thar thev
were receiving a number o"'!io-"*' especially young clients' who
le..):t';'ttil ir;an and djd "o'"nl"" r,'"ri idea jbout the'countrv but
eniov Japanese food (tntervrei'ee S' 20i0' fuUott'm & Rahman' 2012)'
A. meniioned earlier' the Japane*ilcra it pred ominantly-apprecia tedas
healthv food (Jang et al zOOo' iokuo S"tfii Academy' 2020) Therefore'
^--^,,-^{-oanlpwhorr"t-t"uttttio'-tttiousvisita]apaneserestaurant
il':"i Jy ; J.;,'^;t,lt. i::1 "l*i5ii.iih3i,19i"?;,liiil:il"'",'"ffi':
asked about the rario ot the na - ^:.^_-r^ aou^ r^ 70.n customerc of
ftom r€staurant to restaurant ror.i:T{;?#;;rr" u,lit*ru *"ru
Sumo Sushi, Sushi King' TokY
Bansladeshis and the rest werel afanese and other" notionals ([nterviewee
i'';6oti''i;;;;i;;"" r :. zozo';"ini"'viu*ee t o' 2020;.lnterviewee r r'
lb# ',rit"t',"*"" i, zozor' oo1" i" 7o;" customers of Nagasaki' lzumi
and Midori'\'ere JaPanese uttd oth"' nationals and 30% to 40oln were
Baneladeshis (lnterviewee z"Zifq; intet'lc*ee 4' 201q; lntcrviewee I2'
;6;3):"":;;:;;'io'i' customers of Azuki Express and lCHl Japanese
Restaurant were Japanese ;;; -;th* nationalsand^^the 'other 50%
illi'g'li".i.'',,'i,:ili:l:: 11"'.t"1;ll::t':il:: ;;"":?: :;;:;.i:l;:X
ii#lf;:: ;:i:i"3lJi33l';".;;." eungrua".hi' camot'eat iaw rood
i"1}r,r"" l"'i"p""""" ftt"iot' f*d' tntervlewee 5 (2020) opined:
--' 'lPrroiorrlrt *i obseraed that our clients had dit't'iculties'to e,nt t,hose lapanese
i;;:',i;i;'hi)i 'i'u i'guanni' wi aia ou' ni^'work' t.tk ro.the ctient>
ahoul their desirc and inu,zi} , nuib,' o7 \opo,,'t fusian food such ns
",!rir*rir' 'inii:' '' ioppo ct'iil''n and Yakiiori chicken l " l now we
'irr[, 1rpi,,t, n'an iood and rustomers loue it "
Further more, religious factors contribute :in the choice 'of Japanese
fusion food, considering that Ito"""Joo;Z' eungtudeshis are Muslims who
Japanese Studies in South Asia ! Diffusion ofJapanese Culture 147
are the main customers. These customers look for'rrlnl' ingredients but a
common ingredient of Japanese cooking is Sake (a kind ofJapanese wine);
if Sake is used, then Muslims cannot eat that food. To overcome this, most
of the restaurants do not use Sake (Interviewee 1, 2020).
As the ingredients ofJapanese food are unique and since some of ther
are not available in Bangladesh, Japanese restaurants collect ingredie rts
from a number of sources from different countries; for example, rice
oinegar, mirin, sushi rice, miso pasta, eokame and nori (a kind of seaweeo),
bonito flakes, kombu, shichimi togarashi and, wasabi. Some restaurants, for
example, the Midori Japanese Restaurant and Tokyo Kitchen import
ingredients directly from ]apan (Interviewee 12, 2020; lnterviewee 10, 2020)
. Conversely, Ginza and Kiyoshi import them from Thailand and Sushi
Tei and Umai from Singapore (Interviewee 5, 2020; Interviewee 7,2020;
lnterviewee 6, 2020; Interviewee 8, 2020). f'l'lese restaurants also contact
local vendors, for instance, Korean Mart Limited to import ingredients
(Interviewee 11, 2020; Interviewee 13, 2020; lnterviewee 9, 2020). However,
a number of respondents affirmed that due to the dePendence on imPot,
there is a consequent increase in cost. As one interviewee stated:
" As a good number of ingredients of I apanese food are imported ftom oaersens,
tlrcrefore, the cost of the ingredients increases uhich ultimately contribates to
the higher price of the t'ood,and higher price negatiztely impacts sales uolume
and the number of customers (Interoiellee L, 2020)."
Most of the Japanese restaurants follow the ]apanese style of food
presentation- out of the sampledl4 restaurants, 12 restaurants Present
food following the Japanese siyle. Respondents were asked whether
they follow the formal ]apanese style of food presentation- moritsuke. In
general, three elements are considered very important for the aesthetic
presentation of the traditional Japanese meal: (a) selection of foods io
serve, (b) the dinnerware, and (c) an exacting placement of dinnerware
(Dzt1na,2019). Respondents responded that they try to follow all the
three elements in presenting the food (Inien iewee 1.,20L9; Interviewee
2, 2019; lnterviewee 3,2020; Interviewee 4, 2019; interviewee 5,2020\.
However, a few restaurants do not always follow the Japanese style of
food presenting (Interviewee 10, 2020; Interviewee 73,2020).In terms of
the use of dilnerware, most of the restaurants use Japanese dinnerware
(lnterviewee 3, 2020; Interviewee 6, 2020; Interviewee Z 2020) but some
restaurants use locally available modern dinnerware (Intewiewee 11,
2020; Interviewee 1, 2019).
Most of the Japanese restaurants receive the highesi number of
customers on Thursday, Friday and Saturday; Friday and Saturday are
weekends in Bangladesh (Interviewee 5, 2020; Interviewee 9, 2020).
However, a few have reported a good number of customers on all
weekdays (lnterviewee 6, 2020 & Interviewee 10, 2020).
The receptionist and waiters at theJapanese restaurants in Bangladesh
greet their clients with Japanese greetings such as lrasslz aimase ("Welcome
to the store" or "come on inl"), konnichi zua (He17o / Good Afternoon),
and konbanwn (Good Evening). Waiters sometimes use basic ]apanese to
communicate with their Japanese guests, for example, okyakusan, dotLzo
148 Abdullah-Al-Mamun
sltufitte kudasai (Guest, please take your seat/please sit down). The staff
also bid goodbye in ]apanese, for instance, sayonara (Goodbye), oyasumi
nasai (Good night), doumo mata kite kudasai (Please come again), arigatou
goruimasu (Thankyou) and so on (Interviewee 1,2019; Interviewee 12,2020;
Interviewee 2,2020). Therefore, although very basic, these restaurants'
Bangladeshi staffs are learning the basics of ]apanese language, especially
greetings and courtesies.
The traditional Japanese interior decoration is well reflected in
the interior design of the restaurants. Apart from Japan-like furniture
and fixtures, restaurants are decorated with Japanese books, products,
calligraphy, photos oflapanese girls in traditional dress - kimono, Bontorukun,
Sumo and momiji, artificial planis, different tyPes ofJapanese paintings, etc.
A number of restaurants, like the traditional Japanese restaurants, do not
allow clients to wear shoes inside the restaurants (lnterviewee 2,2079 8L
Interviewee 3, 2019). They also provide Horigatsu, the traditional seating
arrangement wiih a Japanese table low to the $ound. (Interviewee 3,
2019; interviewee 7, 2019).
Cooking oflapanese food contemplates as culinarv art, and, therefore,
an expert chef is crucial to prepare the perfect Japanese food arrd present
it. A number of Japanese restaurants in Bangladesh have Japanese chefs,
for example, Nagasaki, ICHI, Izumi and Umai Japanese Restaurant
(Interviewee 2, 2019; Interviewee 3, 2020; Interviewee 4, 2019; Interviewee
8,2020). Some restaurants, nevertheless, have hired chefs from Japan
to train local chefs, for instance, ICHI (Interviewee 3, 2020; Interviewee
8, 2020). A few restaurants sent their chefs to other countries such as
Singapore to get training from Japanese chefs (Interviera,'ee 6, 2020).
Howevet some restaurants, in the beginning, hired Japanese chefs to train
the local Bangladeshi to cook Japanese food; these ]apanese chefs were
previously workhg in Bangladeshi JaPanese restaurants, for instance,
lokyo Express and Umai (Interviewee 77, 2020; Interviewee 8, 2020).
This model was commonly seen in Europe at the beginning of the boom
of Japanese restaurants (Cwiertka, 2005). Some restaurants hired non-
japanese chefs from nearby countries such as Thailand who have a greater
expertise in Japanese culinary art to train Bangladeshi chefs (Interviewee
7, 2020). Remarkably, a few restaurants even arrange specialised training
for their chefs when they plan to introduce a new item. In particular, the
ICHIJapanese Restaurant trains their Bangladeshi chef, inviting aJaparese
chef from Japan (Interviewee 3, 2020). Nevertheless, all the respondents
indicated that the number of Bangladeshi chefs who were efficient
in cooking Japanese food was increasing; naturalJy, these restaurants
preferred io employ a local chef so as to reduce the overhead costs. They
idded thut although they were reducing the number of Japanese chefs
and appointing Bangladesh chefs, they did not receive any complaints
about the authentic taste of the food either from their Japanese customers
or from the Bangladeshi clients. The interviewees reckoned that a good
number of Bangladeshi chefs had earned the desired level ofexpertise and
soon they were able to train other Bangladeshi chefs on Japanese cooking.
An interviewee expressed his understanding in the followirrg lines:
Japanese Studies in South Asia tr Diffusion of Japanese Culture 149
"It is becoming difficult to hire chqs f'tom lapalt to train local chefs and as a
number of Bangladeshi chefs are aery competent to make lipanese food, ouners
of the restaurants are more inclining to hire local chefs to proaide trafuing.
It is noteworthy that when these chefs cook lapanese food for Japanese, for
elamplg, IICA'; lapanese stafrs, they appreciate the food and do not complain
about the quality of the food. (lnterciewee 1, 2020)."
_Japanese restaurants are gradually becoming an emplopnent industry,
with around 1000 staffworking in these restaurants. These employees,
by and large, are increasingly becoming familiar with Japanese iuliural
elements as well. The restaurant staffs taste Japanese food every now and
then and they find it tasty; they too believe that Japanese food is very
healthy arrd that the ingredients used in prepadng the Japanese food are
great sources of vitamin, protein and energy that help lead a long, healt\
life (lnterviewee 3, 2019). A number of staff said that they tastedJapanesi
food not merely in thet own restaurants, but they also went for a full meal
in the restaurant they work or visited other ]apanese restaurants to enroy
it (lnterviewee 74, 2020).
The sale of |apanese food is not restricted to the restaurants alone;
these restaurants often receive orders to supply food on social occasions,
official meetings and family parties (Interviewee 7,2020). They also
supply Japanese food to offices for lunch and to families for lulch
and dinner Restaurants arrange special buffet lunch and dinner at the
weekends with the ]apanese foods are becoming increasingly popular
among the Bangladeshi food lovers (Interviewee 12,2020). The buffet
lulch and dinner showcase myriad of Japanese food items following
the art of traditional ]apanese food presenting and disptay Japanese
dimerware to give the real Japanese flavour However, a few respondents
pointed oui that due io financial hardships, owners of the restaurants
were unable to undertake promotional activities to create more awareness
about Japanese food and to athact more customers (Interviewee 1, 2020).
Currently, these restaurants are very much dependent on Facebook and
YouTube promotions; occasionally, some YouTubers prepare videos as
part of their food review programme on Japanese restaurants which they
telecast in their YouTube chamels. However, Japanese restaurants in
Bangladesh, as of today, do not participate in food festivals organised by
different organisations nor do they organise arry food festival on their own
(lnterviewee 3, 2020; Interviewee 5, 2020; lnterviewee 6, 2020).
Section 4 responds to the first research question which is to examine
the current Srowth trend of the ]apanese restaurants in Bangladesh and to
investigate the management of these restaurants. This section concludes
that the number of Japanese restaurants is increasing in Bangladesh and
although the enhepreneurs are encourtering some challenges, overalf
they are satisfied with the growth of their business and the profits.
5. Diffusion of Japanese Culture
The discussion in section 5 reveals that Japanese restaurants are diffusing
various elements of the Japanese culture, for example, cuisine, food,
decoration and food presentation, dimerware, culinary arts, customs,
150 Abdullah-Al-Mamun
greetings, language and decorative aris, photography
t4o."o.i"" with the continuous increase in the numl and
:r ofpaintings.
Moreover, continuous increase in the number of Japanese
."rtu".u"it, these elements of ]apanese culture are diffusing more and
more in ttre Bangladeshi society; esPecially amongst the city. dwellers'
These findings rispond to the-second research question which is to
investigate *i"th". 1upu.,"." restaurants are diffusing Japanese culture
in San"stadesn und atto to identify those elements of Japanese culture
thrt ur!ro diffusing. Futhermore, the find ings of this study suPPort the
result of a previou-s study which concludes that although a restaurant
is a commercial venture ihat seeks to maximise profit by attracting al
increasing number of customers, it effectively works as a means of cultural
diftusion (Cwiertka, 2005).
The Bangladeshi nationals' physical orientation to JaPanese culture is
lirnited to so"me cultural events br[anised by the Embassy of Japan in the
form of Ikebana and tea ceremony" demonstration, drama and film show'
-..ti" u"a drama performance 6y singers and artists fromJapan and
cuit ral festivals. Beiides, some locil orglnisations such as the Bangladesh
Ikebana Association, Bangladesh Bonsai Association, Kokorozashi &
Kazuko Bhuiyan Japanese"Cultural Center, the DePartment o{Japanese
Language & Culure, and the Department of Japanese Studies, -University
of Diaki occasionally organise cultural events and shows Additionally' a
few five-star hotels rirel! organise ]apanese Food Festival' These events'
shows or festivals are tne liriited sources for Bangladeshis to familiarise
themselves with the Japanese culture. These transient agents perhaps
play some role to diffuse cultural elements but permanent establishments
such as restaurantsare more rnJluential agents to diffuse culture One
strons evidences of this is the leaming of, and expertise developed bythe
Bangiadeshi chefs insofar as the Japanese cooking style is.-concerned'
fn"E, tn" study finds ihat most of the restaurants emPloyed Bangladeshi
chefs who are experts in Iapanese cooking and these chefs either have got
training ftom Jap;nese cheis or from Bangladeshi chefs who are exPerts in
cooking Japanese food.
Another example of diffusion o{ culture by Japanese restaurants is the
srowing populariW of the Japanese food. Previously, people had the option
io taste"Jlpanese food eithei at Japanese food festivals organised by five-
star hotelJ or at special events arranged by organisations related to JaPan'
However, people now have the facility to enjoy Japanese food for their
lunch or d inner in restaurants. This has paved the way for the increasing
diffusion of a Japanese food culture in Bangladesh' Furthermore, due to
the social medii, Facebook, YouTube, etc., people are now exposed to
transnational foods; as the number of Japanese restaurants $ rncreasmg/
thev set the opportunity to taste and savour Japanese food This factor also
.o.itibrt"r td ihe djffusion of Japanese food. Since the existing Japanese
restaurants have introduced take-away and home dellvery servrces'
therefore, it is convenient for the people io order and enjoy ]apanese food
in their office or from the comJorts of their homes' Moreovet buffet system
of food in lunches and dimers are also al added attraction for food lovers'
Consequently, these factors are helping the diffusion of ]apanese food in
the country.
Japanese Studies in South Asia D Diffusion of lapanese Culture 151
It may be seen that the Bangladeshis who are visiting Japanese
restaurants are not_only enioying Japanese food but also experiencing
Japarese art of food presentation and decoratiory dirmerware, cutleries]
interior design, pahtings, plants, handicrafts and so on. This experience,
memories and lessons as part of socialisation and in the form of imitation
also helps diffuse Japanese culture. Likewise, those visiting these
restaurants are becoming familiar with Japanese greetings and Ialguage
in the form of short sentences such as irasshaimase (Wetc6me;, konnichiia
(Hello), and kombaua lCood Evening), sayonara (Goodbye\, oyttsumi
rrsal (Good night), doumo, mada kite kudasai (please come agatn), arigatou
gozaimasu (Thanl< you), and okyakusan douzo suwatte kudasai(Guest, please
take your seat). Such diffusion of cultural elements viaJapanese restaurants
is not only limited to greetings arld language but also typical lapanese
customs such as bowing, horigatsu (the traditional Japanese table laid low
to the ground) and the non-use of shoes inside the restaurants. presently,
as-previously discussed, the Bangladeshis' understanding of Japaneje
cultural elements is very limited, that mostly comes froni intemit ald
various events organised by the Japan Embassy and other japan-related
organisations.-Therefore, Japanese restaurants are becoming animportant
source to familiarise Japanese culture and playing a crucialiole to diffuse
that culture in Bangladesh. Additionally, japi.,ese restaurants as a
primary agent are inlluencing employees of their restaurants to become
acquainted with ]apanese culture and custons, and such acquaintances
are contributhg to the diffusion of culture.
7. Conclusion
Bangladesh and ]apan enioy warm arrd friendly relations; the two
comtries will be celebrathg the 50th years of establishing their
relationship in the year 2022. ln recent yeois, rrrore and more Jipuru..
comparies are investing in Banglades[ with the Govemment of
Bangladesh showing keen interest to welcome them into the country.
The traditional donor-recipient relationship is gradually transforming
into a mutually beneficial partnership, with the investment of Japanese
companies being the linchpin to the strengthening of such partnirship.
Simultaneously, theJapanese community in Bangladesh is growing from
the hundreds to the thousands. This study reveals that ai this p6int of
time the number of Japanese restaurants is increasing in Balgladesh. As
the role of a restaurant as an agent of diffusion of culture is multifaceted,
a number of Japanese cultural elements are diffusing in the Bangladeshi
sociery Some policy implications can be drawn from these findings. The
long-standing debate is in relation to the question whether diffuiion of
cultural elements is positive or negative. However, a burgeoning body
of literature has argued that in the age of globalisation and intemet, it
is indeed difficult to prevent cultural diffusion. Therefore, this school of
thought iakes a middle grourd in arguing that if a society is reluctant
to allow transnational culture it may lose many benefits rdulting out of
globalisation. It is evident that the diffusion of Japanese culture through
Japanese restautants is advantageous for Bangladesh because the size of
Japanese community is increasing, especially due to the increase in the
152 Abdullah-Al-Mamun
number of Japanese companies operating in the counq Ol:lq Y]tn 'h*
i".irit"t, tirJ growi.rg .b**,ttity t""i' utt"tt to Japanese.food that
"ln-b" "n.rr"i by th"e Japarese rlstaurants Because of the diffusion of
#;;;;;i;",'Lhe a",igludeshi people are becoming more and more
i, [.'il;;'; -ii;;*"1" l"it"" that'wiil also help them to dea] with the
ir"^""* ,*'jfJ more e{fectively That being so'it wiU be rn the fitness
'ir"";;;'= tl{i[; Co""*-"n, of'Bangladesh- enhanced the facilities for
i^""i""%" r"ttu".u.ts so that the num6er of these restaurants can glow to-
ffiiil;;il;;r,t. oittt" ppu""t" community The growing number of
*rt^"r*tr--nl "rso cater to ihe needs of the rising number of Bangladeshi
i;;;;;J;p;"* food which will, in tum.' enhance their understanding
"tou, lrrrn"r" ",rlture, thus contribute to further cementing the e{fective
partn;rs'hip between Bangladesh and Japan'
Appendix
List of Interviewees
No. Ndnd Ocatpation Date of Inte/7)ieu) Ser
1Mr.Nuru Alam Former Main Chef,
Sumo Sushi Restaurant 2.tth November, 2019; 21"
& 23d September, 2020; 14'h
October, 2020
N{ale
2. Mr. Rahim Staft Nagasaki
Japanese Restaurani 25'r' November, 2019 Male
3. Md. Dulal Hossain Staft ICHI JaPanese
Restaurant 25,h November 2019; 20'h,
21" & 23'J SePtembet 2020 Male
Manager 25'r' November, 2019 Male
5. Mrsajib Almed Staff, Cinza Restaurant 203 & 21" SePtembet 2020 NIale
6. Mr. Faisa] StaJt Sushi Tei
Bangladesh 206 & 21' SePtember, 2020 Ntale
Mr.Rashed Alam Staff, Kiyoshi 2or & 21 i SePtember, 2020 Male
IJ Mr.Nazmul Hossain SupeNisor, Umai 20'h & 21" SePtember, 2020 Male
9. Md. Salahuddin SupeNisor, Sushi
Samurai 20'r' & 21'r SePtember. 2020 Male
10. Anonymous Staff 2l"Septembet 2020 N'lale
11. Mr.Masum Staff, Tokyo ExPrcss 21" Septembet 2020 Male
L2. Mr. Akbar Hossain Senior Waiter, Midori
Japanese Restaurant 21i September, 2020 Male
13. Mr.Shuvroto Sarkar Ownet Sushi King 21" Septembet 2020 Male
1,1. Mr.Rony Supen'isot Azuki
Express 21" & 23"r SePtember,2020 Male
Japanese Studies in South Asia tr Diffusion of Japanese Culture 153
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