TOKYO — Walk down the main street of Shin-Okubo on any given afternoon, and you will encounter a sensory overload that defies easy categorization. Korean pop music spills from storefronts. The aroma of tteokbokki and Korean fried chicken mingles with the scent of freshly baked hotteok. Signs in Hangul outnumber those in Japanese. Young Japanese women queue outside Korean cosmetics shops, while groups of tourists photograph themselves in front of Korean grocery stores stocked with ramyeon, kimchi, and gochujang.
This is Shin-Okubo, Tokyo's Korea Town—a neighborhood that has become ground zero for K-food's expansion into Japan, and a living laboratory for understanding how Korean culinary culture travels, adapts, and thrives beyond its borders. What makes Shin-Okubo remarkable is not simply its concentration of Korean businesses, but the way it has evolved from an ethnic enclave into a mainstream cultural destination, attracting Japanese consumers who see Korean food not as foreign cuisine, but as an integral part of contemporary urban life.
From Margin to Mainstream: The Transformation of Shin-Okubo
Shin-Okubo's transformation mirrors the broader trajectory of Hallyu—the Korean Wave—in Japan. What began as a niche market serving Korean residents and early adopters has exploded into a cultural phenomenon that shapes Japanese consumer behavior, particularly among younger generations.
Professor Hwang Seong-bin of Rikkyo University, a leading expert on media representation and transnational cultural flows, has spent years studying Shin-Okubo as a case study in how food functions as cultural soft power. In a recent seminar at Ewha Womans University, Hwang presented his research on "Korean Food Culture in Japan: Shin-Okubo as a New Street of Korean Culture and Cuisine," offering insights that extend far beyond a single Tokyo neighborhood.
"K-food is no longer just food," Hwang explained. "It has become a representative element of Korea's cultural soft power." His analysis integrates political, cultural, and media dimensions—examining how Korean dramas, K-pop, and sports have created a receptive environment for Korean culinary culture. The result is a synergistic effect: K-dramas make viewers curious about the food characters eat, K-pop idols endorse Korean snacks and beverages, and social media amplifies both, creating a self-reinforcing cycle of interest and consumption.
The Shin-Okubo Effect: Beyond Ethnic Authenticity
What distinguishes Shin-Okubo from traditional ethnic enclaves is its embrace of hybridity and innovation. While authenticity remains important, the neighborhood has become a site of culinary experimentation where Korean food adapts to Japanese tastes and Japanese consumers reinterpret Korean dishes through their own cultural lens.
Korean fried chicken, for instance, has been adapted with Japanese flavors—yuzu, shiso, teriyaki—creating fusion dishes that appeal to local palates while retaining their Korean identity. Tteokbokki is sold alongside takoyaki at street food stalls, normalized as just another snack option rather than an exotic novelty. Korean convenience store chains like CU and GS25 have opened branches in Shin-Okubo, offering Japanese consumers a curated experience of Korean snack culture.
This hybridity is not dilution, but evolution. It demonstrates K-food's adaptability—its capacity to maintain core identity while accommodating local preferences. This flexibility is precisely what has allowed Korean cuisine to achieve mainstream acceptance in Japan, a country with notoriously conservative food culture and complex historical tensions with Korea.
The Role of Media and Representation
Hwang's research emphasizes the critical role of media in shaping perceptions of Korean food. Korean dramas and variety shows do not simply feature food; they narrativize it, embedding dishes within stories of family, friendship, romance, and aspiration. When Japanese viewers watch characters in Crash Landing on You share ramyeon, or see idols on Korean variety shows compete in cooking challenges, they are not just observing food—they are absorbing the social and emotional contexts that give Korean cuisine its meaning.
This media-driven interest translates into real-world behavior. Japanese tourists visit Shin-Okubo not just to eat Korean food, but to experience the Korea they have encountered through screens. The neighborhood functions as a physical manifestation of the Korea constructed by Hallyu media—a place where the boundary between representation and reality blurs, and where consumption becomes a form of cultural participation.
Academic and Industry Collaboration: Building Knowledge Infrastructure
The seminar at Ewha Womans University that featured Hwang's research exemplifies a broader trend: the growing academic and industry interest in K-food as a subject of serious scholarly inquiry. The event brought together faculty from communication, food science, history, and public administration, alongside graduate students and representatives from the food industry, including Gwangjin Enterprise, a biotech firm specializing in fermented soybean products.
Professor Seungchul Yoo, chair of Ewha's Department of Communication and Media, emphasized the importance of interdisciplinary approaches to understanding K-food's global impact. "Through Professor Hwang's cultural anthropological approach, we were able to gain a new understanding of K-food's global influence," Yoo noted. "For the sustainable development of K-food, interdisciplinary research and Korea-Japan exchange are becoming increasingly important."
This convergence of academic research, industry expertise, and international collaboration is building the knowledge infrastructure necessary to support K-food's continued expansion. Rather than relying on organic growth alone, stakeholders are actively studying the mechanisms of cultural transmission, consumer behavior, and market dynamics to inform strategic decisions.
Implications for K-Food's Global Future
Shin-Okubo offers a microcosm of K-food's global potential—and its challenges. The neighborhood's success demonstrates that Korean cuisine can achieve mainstream acceptance in culturally conservative markets, but it also reveals the importance of localization, media synergy, and sustained cultural engagement.
For K-food to replicate Shin-Okubo's success in other markets—whether in Southeast Asia, Europe, or North America—several factors will be critical. First, continued media representation that contextualizes Korean food within compelling narratives. Second, willingness to adapt and hybridize without losing core identity. Third, investment in knowledge production and cross-cultural dialogue that deepens understanding of how food travels and transforms.
Hwang's research suggests that K-food's future lies not in rigid authenticity, but in dynamic adaptation. "Through K-food, we can further promote cultural exchange and mutual understanding between Korea and Japan," he observed. This principle applies globally: K-food's strength is not in remaining static, but in its capacity to evolve while retaining the cultural resonance that makes it distinctively Korean.
The Broader Hallyu Ecosystem
Shin-Okubo also illustrates the interconnectedness of different Hallyu elements. K-food does not exist in isolation; it is part of an ecosystem that includes K-pop, K-dramas, K-beauty, and Korean language learning. Japanese consumers who visit Shin-Okubo often engage with multiple facets of Korean culture simultaneously—buying Korean skincare products, listening to K-pop, eating Korean food, and practicing Korean phrases.
This holistic engagement creates deeper and more durable cultural connections than any single element could achieve alone. It transforms casual interest into sustained fandom, and consumption into cultural literacy. For policymakers and industry leaders seeking to promote K-food globally, the lesson is clear: food is most powerful when integrated into a broader cultural offering, not marketed in isolation.
Looking Ahead
As K-food continues its global expansion, Shin-Okubo stands as both a success story and a roadmap. It demonstrates that Korean cuisine can transcend ethnic boundaries and become part of mainstream urban culture. It shows the importance of media, adaptability, and interdisciplinary research. And it reveals the potential for food to serve as a bridge between nations with complex histories, fostering mutual understanding through shared culinary experiences.
The next chapter of K-food's story will be written in cities around the world—in the Korean restaurants of Los Angeles, the K-BBQ joints of London, the ramyeon aisles of supermarkets in São Paulo. But the lessons of Shin-Okubo will remain relevant: that food is culture, that culture is dynamic, and that the most successful culinary exports are those that honor their roots while embracing transformation.
About the Research: This article draws on research presented at a seminar hosted by Ewha Womans University's Department of Communication and Media, featuring Professor Hwang Seong-bin of Rikkyo University. The seminar, titled "Korean Food Culture in Japan: Shin-Okubo as a New Street of Korean Culture and Cuisine," brought together scholars from multiple disciplines to examine K-food's role in Korea-Japan cultural exchange.
Watch the Full Seminar: The complete seminar is available on YouTube:
Acknowledgment: This research was supported by the Ottogi Ham Tae-ho Foundation, which funds scholarly inquiry into Korean food culture and its global impact.
