This paper examines late nineteenth-century Ottoman–Japanese encounters through the lens of culinary diplomacy, arguing that meaningful diplomatic interaction emerged prior to the formal establishment of relations in 1924. Moving beyond state-centric narratives, the study conceptualizes these exchanges as forms of pre-institutional diplomacy unfolding within a para-diplomatic space/sites where representation, negotiation, and symbolic communication occurred outside formal treaties and embassies. Drawing on archival materials and contemporary accounts, the paper highlights episodes such as banquets offered to Japanese officers in the Ottoman Empire, the performance of Japanese tea ceremonies before the Ottoman court, and the circulation of food commodities between the two polities. These encounters were not merely cultural curiosities; they constituted embodied practices of recognition, hierarchy, hospitality, and mutual curiosity. Merchants, intermediaries, and courtly actors operated simultaneously as economic agents and de facto diplomatic figures, mediating between two imperial contexts. By situating culinary practices within broader debates on informal and everyday diplomacy, this study challenges the assumption that diplomacy begins with formal agreements. Instead, it demonstrates that food, ritual, and hospitality functioned as affective and performative infrastructures of international engagement. The Ottoman–Japanese case thus offers a historically grounded example of how diplomatic relations can crystallize through cultural practice before institutionalization, contributing to both the historiography of late Ottoman foreign relations and emerging scholarship on gastrodiplomacy.

Authors:
Esra Ansel Derinbay, Independent Scholar, Türkiye
Gözde Kurt Yılmaz, Beykent University, Türkiye

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Esra Ansel is a historian of the late Ottoman Empire, currently an independent scholar, who continues archival research and scholarly writing. She is currently working on a co-edited book and several co-edited articles.

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https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-esra-ansel-derinbay-39aa4719/

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