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Paper short abstract

This study examines gendered inequalities in ethnic entrepreneurship through Korean and Peruvian restaurants in Japan. Drawing on Bourdieu, we show how unequal access to economic and cultural capital channels women into domesticity, while men dominate open-market opportunities.

Paper long abstract

While restaurants are among the most common forms of ethnic businesses, their success largely depends on how migrant cuisines attract customers beyond co-ethnic communities. We argue that the accumulation of capital necessary to compete in the open market is highly gendered, with men having greater access to opportunities for growth. This raises our research question: why do women face disadvantages in the restaurant sector, despite its comparatively weaker gender bias relative to other types of ethnic businesses?

To address this question, we examine the relationship between distinction and gender in the restaurant industry through a comparative analysis of Korean and Peruvian restaurants in Japan, drawing on Bourdieu’s concept of the field. The Korean Wave has created opportunities for restaurants targeting young Japanese consumers, while the gastronomic boom in Peru has enabled the establishment of high-end Peruvian restaurants. Based on interviews with 35 Korean and Peruvian restaurants, we identify gendered patterns of entrepreneurial opportunity: male-owned restaurants are more likely to enter the open market. Both economic and cultural capital required for entrepreneurship are unevenly distributed by gender, with women tending to have less access to both forms of capital.

These patterns reflect an ambivalent relationship between domesticity and professionalism. On the one hand, the ideology of domesticity positions women as primary operators of home-style restaurants. In small establishments targeting co-ethnic consumers, women are more represented than men and are often expected to provide “the taste of home,” a role that aligns closely with domesticity. On the other hand, when immigrant entrepreneurs engage in restaurants not as owner-chefs but as managers, success is determined primarily by the availability of economic capital—an advantage more often held by men. Korean restaurants serving Japanese consumers largely fall into this category. Furthermore, although the number of owner-chefs in high-end Peruvian restaurants has increased, these positions are almost exclusively occupied by men. In this context, the accumulation of cultural capital—such as advanced culinary skills and Japanese language proficiency—requires substantial investments of time and money. Because these demands conflict with the ideology of domesticity, men are able to monopolize these entrepreneurial opportunities.