This paper offers a preliminary yet critical investigation into the transformations shaping Hong Kong’s contemporary ramen-scape—the cultural and commercial landscape of ramen (Japanese noodles) consumption in Hong Kong, examining how the meanings of this Japanese national dish have been reconfigured in the local understanding and consumption of ramen in Hong Kong. For decades, localisation—or domestication—has been the dominant framework for explaining the popularity of Japanese cuisine in Hong Kong. Yet, with the increasing affordability of travel to Japan and the proliferation of information about ramen culture, local Hong Kong people’s perceptions and preferences for ramen have drastically changed. These developments, situated within broader transnational flows of culinary culture between Japan and Hong Kong, render localisation obsolete as a framework for understanding ramen’s current popularity.

Although authenticity has often been positioned as the counterpoint to localisation, ramen’s roots in Chinese noodle traditions and its continual carnivorous absorption of other culinary practices make authenticity a problematic lens. Instead, this paper proposes the idea of commensurability as a viable concept to explain the popularity of ramen in Hong Kong—the idea that Hong Kong consumers seek ramen experiences that are comparable to those encountered in Japan. Through a close analysis of two local ramen businesses of different scales—Ajisen Ramen and Michi no Ramen—this paper demonstrates how commensurability, rather than localisation, has become the key to understanding ramen’s contemporary popularity in Hong Kong’s culinary landscape.

Authors:
Gavin Tse, Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Hong Kong

About the Presenter(s)
Gavin Tse (Phd, HKU) is Assistant Professor at Hong Kong Metropolitan University; his research interests include popular culture, film studies, and literary studies. He recently completed a project on the translation of Hong Kong Sinophone literature

See this presentation on the full schedule – Tuesday Schedule

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