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In the Age of COVID-19 – Indian restaurants and the Indian cooks in Japan

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Megha Wadhwa
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Abstract

This article explores the impact of COVID-19 on restaurants owned by Indian migrants in Japan as they struggle with financial and occupational risks. The owners try to balance their business interests with their relationships and with the Indian community in Tokyo and their desire to be good citizens by complying with pandemic guidelines. The cooks, who were brought to Japan by the owners, are in a more precarious position, having lost work hours and income, but without the ability to look elsewhere for work. Through the voices of both owners and cooks, I try to document these different experiences within a single ethnic community, and even a single enterprise, that has been tested by the virus.

Keywords

COVID-19restaurantsIndian Communitymigrant labor
Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 18 , Issue 18 , September 2020 , e11
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2020

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References

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