Not cool, Jack.
When I saw this on TV, I had a lot of emotions… First, I felt insulted and indignant. How could a white American franchise make teriyaki bowls? These guys make burgers, tacos, and now teriyaki? Could it really be any good? Then, I felt a bit worried. What about all them mom and pop teriyaki joints that my Korean friends’ families run? What will happen to their businesses? Will they be taken down by this Walmart-esque move by Jack in the Crack? Why don’t they leave them alone? How will my friends earn allowance? I really felt for them.
Funny thing is that teriyaki, though originally from Japan, isn’t that popular there. There are no teriyaki shops in Japan. It’s an American thing. I’m sure that the first to open the shops were Japanese Americans, but soon most of the shops were opened by Koreans and maybe even Chinese. Personally, I’ve always thought that syrup that they call sauce is too sweet and they put too much on the rice. I hate it when my rice is covered in sauce. I like my rice white, thank you.
Anyways, after thinking about it, I don’t think that Jack in the Crack will put any teriyaki shops out of business. It’ll just give some people out in the boonies a place to get some pseudo-Asian food. Those who love their teriyaki will still go to the Asian stores, where the portions will be bigger, the sauce tastier, and the choices wider. SAMs like places where they have spicy teriyaki, lots of side vegetables, and sometimes even kimchi! Most places will even have the combo, where you can get both beef and chicken teriyaki. Personally, I always ask for sauce on the side. – Reflective SAM
This isn't real teriyaki!
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The big businesses didn’t blink an eye when they ousted small successful businesses. Starbucks for instance chased out a lot of traditional caucasian owned cafes, McDonalds killed the original American burger culture… the list goes on and on. There’s no reason for a big fish like Jack in the Box to swim by the numerous teriyaki stores and not try to take a bite out of it. It would have been nice if an Asian-American figured out the formula, but fact is Asian-Americans are not part of the eurocentric socialist system underlying the large capitalist enterprises (but neither are many Euro-Anglo Americans.) Therefore the success of the family owned Asian-American dominated Teriyaki stores makes Teriyaki part of the American Culture specifically because of the success it brings in. This puts it square in the radar of the big fishes.
Re: “It’ll just give some people out in the boonies a place to get some pseudo-Asian food”
In my area, we have to drive to the boonies to get to a panda express.
Good points, RL. These days, being in business is really tough because you’re basically competing in a global market. Traditional mom&pop businesses can get by, but there’s always the threat of a corporation coming in and destroying what you built because of their ability to cut costs. After writing this article, I went out to a Japanese restaurant and had some chicken teriyaki. Very good.
while it does suck, I think that the traditional places will always be known for being “real” and the best. That has happened with other burger places as well (although since I’m from seattle, starbucks is still the best for coffee)
its interesting to see the views on pop-culture here in the usa through the eyes of different ethnic backgrounds
the sign is offensive, if we did something like that with stereotypical black attributes, there would be riots and all hell would break loose. I think it comes down to asians having to stand up for their rights.
but its the same for whites in asian cultures. I went into a joke shop in shinjuku Tokyo and found a gaijin-mask (foreigner mask) for Japanese to wear, basically it was a big/long nose and circles for eyes with blue Irish’s … this tends to happen when your outnumbered, so people need to fight like the blacks did in the usa.
Thanks for writing all. You know, I’m kind of a Zen advocate, and I feel ‘thinking’ doesn’t help racism at all. And, racism, so long as you are thinking, will always exist.
I’m sure you guys have known people who were trying to be PC and non-racist, only to be even more racist by being so. Like my dumbass white buddy who went into a Teriyaki joint and said ‘arigatoe’ after he got his order from the Korean store owner. Cracked me up. Oklahoma boy.
In that sense, just thinking about racism makes you unnatural, and you start actually reacting differently. So, I say the best thing is to clear your mind of color, and just try not to dwell on it or it will just drive you nuts.
Japan is VERY racist. Racist towards other Asians, racist towards white people. Any foreigner, or gaijin, is treated differently, though Japanese have a respect for British/American culture, so they tend to treat those nationals quite well. they treat others a lot worse. But, I would argue that most homogenous societies are racist, and that Japanese are no more racist than any other countries. I say this, being a Japanese American, FYI.
I will not eat teriyaki without kimchee.