Decentred Hospitality: Omotenashi Culture and the Foreign Visitor in Japan

With the approach of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, a more robust study of the interaction between Japanese nationals, particularly those working in service or nightlife industries, and visiting foreign tourists is necessary. Hegel (1977) and Honneth (1995), provide a unique framework for understanding the importance of mutual recognition in the efforts of identity co-construction. That is, that self-consciousness (self-construction) can only occur though the reflection of another self-consciousness. This joint construction of self is vital to understanding how communities form and how they interact with others outside their community. Despite Japan’s insular community and sometimes isolationist cultural posture, mutual recognition plays a valuable role in hospitality through the concept of omotenashi. Further, the culture of omotenashi provides a unique avenue for the Japanese service industry and its participants to develop cosmopolitan values without comprising their domestic cultural norms. Through analysing the philosophy of self and understanding some of the roots and perception of omotenashi, I intend to put forward an introductory methodological approach to exploring the importance of omotenashi in providing a space for mutual recognition and for developing connections and friendships with foreign visitors to Japan.