Final Project: Brainstorming

For my independent learning topic, I want to compare, contrast, and connect Japanese and Japanese American identities through an exploration of food and migration. I thought it would be interesting to trace one type of food from Japan across the Pacific to Hawai’i (where some of my family lives) and the Bay Area (where I live), and research how both the physical form of this food and its cultural or community significance has changed because of migration, foreign policy, racism, (military) colonialism, and identity. While in office hours with Davinder and Juliana, we discussed the possibility of tracing spam from places in Japan and Okinawa to Hawai’i or even the U.S. alongside the migration of food and cultures. I remember growing up eating spam musubi, a comfort food throughout my childhood. I believe spam musubi is often considered a marker of identity in Hawai’i and the Bay Area as representative of Asian/Asian American and Pacific Islander cultures. Yet, I know spam also has a complicated history in the Pacific, especially as part of a legacy of militarization. Our conversation and my reflections on it helped me begin thinking about possible questions to explore: 

• What is the cultural significance of spam for Japanese Americans/Asian American communities? How does this significance differ in Japan, Okinawa, and other parts of the Pacific?
• How did spam come to parts of the Pacific (Japan, Okinawa, Hawai’i) and the U.S.? How does the migration of food reflect the migration of peoples/communities? 
• How does food and its adaptations/changes reflect historical and current forces of foreign and domestic policies (e.g., military campaigns)? Social and state institutions (e.g., government, legal system, community relationships and resilience/creativity)?

I plan to check out Davinder’s research recommendations, such as this article and her student’s thesis on the introduction of pigs in Okinawa. I will also follow up on Juliana’s suggestion of visiting the Japanese Overseas Migration Museum in Yokohama this weekend (and possibly the Cup of Noodles museum nearby!). Having narrowed down my topic to focus on spam, I now begin the process of exploring what research is out there about this food and related topics of migration, culture, identity, and other historical forces. 

Canned spam