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Paper short abstract

How do cuisines travel when vloggers, not diplomats, introduce them? This study examines culinary influencers as cultural mediators in India–Japan relations, showing how everyday cooking videos on YouTube and Instagram spark cross-cultural curiosity and emotional connection.

Paper long abstract

This paper examines how culinary influencers act as digital diplomats and cultural mediators, shaping national food imaginaries through online storytelling. Focusing on India–Japan relations, the study explores how food creators on YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok construct narratives of authenticity, fusion, everyday cooking, and cultural curiosity that shape cross-cultural perceptions beyond formal diplomatic spaces.

While institutional diplomacy relies on state-led initiatives, influencers build affective connections through personal stories, visual aesthetics, and parasocial intimacy. Drawing on theories of soft power (Nye 2004), culinary nation branding (Ooi 2015), and cultural intermediation (Bourdieu 1984), the paper identifies three key categories of culinary influencers:

(1) diaspora bridge figures such as Indian cooks and restaurateurs in Japan or Japanese chefs in India who translate food cultures for local audiences;

(2) professional chefs who collaborate with tourism boards or cultural institutions and actively shape national cuisine narratives online;

(3) lifestyle and wellness creators who link Indo–Japanese culinary exchange with themes like sustainability, mindfulness, and global living.

Methodologically, the study uses digital ethnography, discourse and visual analysis, and engagement metrics to understand how platform algorithms highlight specific styles of representation such as minimalism, home cooking, or creative fusion. These patterns reveal how influencers function as para-diplomatic actors who negotiate taste, identity, and belonging in digital spaces.

By centering influencers within the study of contemporary cultural diplomacy, this paper contributes to discussions on digital Asia, soft power, and the sensory politics of food. It argues that in an era of algorithm-driven visibility, intercultural understanding increasingly emerges through everyday online food storytelling rather than through traditional diplomatic channels.