From Vulnerability to Resilience: How Japanese Restaurants in Australia Responded to the COVID-19 Pandemic

ABSTRACT

Over the last two decades, Australia has led the global Japanese restaurant industry in growth. This article investigates how this burgeoning cross-cultural sector has navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. Through qualitative analysis, it reveals the vulnerabilities and resiliencies of Japanese restaurants in Australia, focusing on digital transformation, digital divide, labour and skill shortages, and institutional vulnerabilities. While some challenges align with the wider hospitality industry, distinctive issues specific to Japanese restaurants are identified. The study highlights how the pandemic amplified existing issues rather than creating new ones and examines how the distinct nature of Japanese restaurants, coupled with Australia’s political-economic landscape, influenced operator responses. Offering insights that transcend its Australian context, this study provides valuable information for both researchers and practitioners in the field.

KEYWORDS:

• Japanese restaurants
• Australia
• pandemic
• hospitality
• precarious work
• migrants

Acknowledgments

The author is immensely grateful to all the participants in this study for sharing their experiences and operational approaches in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly given the challenging times. Special thanks are also due to the two anonymous reviewers, the Editor in Chief, the Area Editor, and the Copy Editor for their invaluable feedback and contribution to refining this manuscript.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ It is important to note that this only accounts for the Japanese-born population and does not include people of Japanese ancestry or those with mixed Japanese heritage.

² Delishesco Pty Ltd in Brisbane was fined AUD$355,000, and its director, Yinan Yang, AUD$50,000, by the Federal Circuit and Family Court for underpaying employees, marking one of the Fair Work Ombudsman’s (FWO) highest penalties (Fair Work Ombudsman, 2022). The affected workers, primarily casual staff like waiters, cooks, and kitchen hands, were mostly migrants from China, Japan, Korea, and Thailand, often young and vulnerable due to limited English and knowledge of Australian laws. Similarly, Yi Jeong ‘Rebecca’ Shin of Sushi Bay Belconnen in Canberra was fined AUD$124,416 for underpaying migrant workers, highlighting a pattern of exploitation in the industry (Fair Work Ombudsman, 2019).

³ It is also fair to mention that States and Territories intervened to provide ad hoc financial assistance, including Victoria’s payment of AUD$1,100 to international students (Study Melbourne, 2023). The Victorian Coronavirus (COVID-19) Test Isolation Payment (introduced in July 2020; initially AUD$300, then AUD$450) and the Worker Support Payment (introduced to assist people who were required to self-isolate due to testing positive for COVID-19; AUD$1,500) were additional pandemic-related subsidies that some temporary visa holders were eligible to benefit from (State Government of Victoria, n.d.).

Additional information

Funding

The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.