Minicourse Syllabus

Oishii: a Japanese food culture & language course uses Canvas LMS. To access it, please sign up here to join with code M387RN. Or you can self-enroll here. 

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Oishii​: A modern Japanese food culture & language course

 

Part 1: Course Information​

 

Instructor Information

Instructor: Yoko Ichikawa, M.A.

Office hours: by appointment
Office telephone: Google phone number here

Email: yoko.ichikawa15@gmail.com

The instructor will get back within 24 hours during business days (Mon–Fri).​​​​

 

Course title & description

Oishii is a modern Japanese food culture minicourse that provides a foundation for understanding and engaging more deeply with daily food habits and dining sensibilities of washoku and cultural adaptations. This course tours the history behind iconic dishes, diverse food establishments, language and etiquette, and key components of traditional food philosophy. From daily meals to fine dining, this course explores contemporary food establishments from combini to izakaya to kaiseki while building Japanese vocabulary. Students will learn to navigate the food scene in Japan or Japanese restaurants at home as well as begin conversing in Japanese around food. Finally, we uncover basic ingredients found in homes for daily cooking in teishoku and bento. 

 

​​​Course learning outcomes

By the end of this course, students should be familiar with:

• Iconic Japanese dishes and how they came to be (Japanese food within a historical context)

• 5 key principles of washoku (traditional Japanese cuisine) and cultural adaptations incorporated into domestic cuisine.​ (Aligns with WLO2)

• Food philosophy behind diet, nutrition, cooking, presentation, and dining rituals. (Aligns with WLO3)  

• Basic food composition and ingredients for daily meals, such as bento and teishoku

• Dining etiquette and key phrases to ordering or sharing a meal

• Japanese vocabulary: menu mainstays and key ingredients in washoku (Aligns with WLO1)

• Dining scene in Japan: different types of food establishments for various budgets and occasions, from low to high end. (Aligns with WLO4)

• Key nouns, adjectives, and verbs used for dining and eating and identifying foods
   

Course prerequisites: None
 

Technology requirements:

• Hardware: PC, Mac, Chromebook, or tablet, speakers, microphone, webcam, smartphone for video

• Software: Mac OS 10.4 or newer, Windows 10 or newer

• Internet Connection: High-speed broadband Internet, download speed of at least 25 mbps, upload speed of at least 3 mbps
   

Part 2: Schedule of Instructional Events

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• Module 1 (dates): Japanese food culture & history overview – an introduction to Japanese food through an overview of its history and contemporary food landscape. Japanese food has three categories: washoku (native), youshoku (Western), and chuuka ryouri (Chinese) plus more recently, esunikku (Ethnic cuisine), to account for native and adaptations from foreign influences. We look at food philosophy and cultural significance of food: overview  

• Module 2 (dates): Dining out – from daily dining hall to high-end special occasion. We tour dining options in Japan at urban centers: daily habits to special occasion destinations as well as basic etiquette. 

• Module 3 (dates): Dining in – etiquette and food ways. We explore washoku principles in action in the home cooked teishoku and high-end kaiseki style meal and conversational expressions

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Part 3: Grading Policy

 

Graded Course Activities

Visit the Assignments link in Canvas for details about each assignment listed below. Click on Quizzes to access quizzes and exams. 

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Late Work/Attendance Policy

Modules close by end of each week. Assignments and quizzes can be reopened past the deadline upon request with 10 point mark downs per week. Final cut off for submission will be on the final day of Module 3. 

 

Weekly attendance is mandatory. Participation in discussion topics and completing quizzes by end of week indicates attendance. Students who are "absent" without communicating with instructor will be dropped after two modules.

 

Letter Grade Assignment

Letter grades are based on the following percentages:

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Academic honesty and integrity policy

Students are expected to maintain high levels of academic integrity. This means:​

• All coursework, including assignments, quizzes, and discussion entries are completed by the student independently unless prompt specifies.​

• Plagiarism, cheating, and other forms of academic dishonesty, such as using resources without required permissions or collaboration on individual tasks, is not permitted. 

• Falsification of identity or facts is also deemed unethical as truth and honesty in sharing personal experience is assumed.

• Any violation may result in a failing grade or block of access to the course once warning is issued and student refuses to desist.

• Participation assumes agreement to follow these standards and contribute to a respectful and honest learning community. 

• If you require further clarification, please contact instructor.
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Accommodations for students with disabilities

We seek to create an inclusive learning environment and ensure access for all students. The following are key features included in our course design:

• All images are labeled with alt-text.​

• Audio descriptions provide further details on images in Google slideshows

• Transcripts are available for all videos

• Captioning for videos

• Adequate contrast in images for visually impaired

• Use of assistive technologies to further facilitate learning is encouraged.

• Please let us know if there is any oversight on our part by providing feedback in the final question of the Course Survey.

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