Emotional and Cultural Patterns Expressed in Chinese and Japanese Cuisines in U.S. Consumer Reviews

Ethnic restaurants in the United States hold significant cultural and social meanings, being widely embraced by diverse communities. As these restaurants adapt to American dietary habits, they not only reflect but also influence culinary trends. Chinese cuisine has long been a popular choice among American diners, while Japanese cuisine has increasingly captured the attention of consumers. This growing interest can be traced back to the 1980s and 1990s, when chefs began incorporating Japanese ingredients and culinary techniques into their menus, a phenomenon known as the "Japanese turn." By the twenty-first century's second decade, concepts like umami and shun had become familiar to many American chefs (yamashita, 2020). This thesis investigates how U.S. consumer reviews on Google reflect differing perceptions of Chinese and Japanese cuisines, focusing on emotional tone, word choice, and cultural framing. Using a dataset of over 690,000 reviews, the study applies TF-IDF, log-odds ratio, and Valence-Arousal-Dominance (VAD) analysis to identify distinct linguistic and emotional patterns associated with each cuisine. The findings reveal that consumer language around Chinese cuisine tends to reflect habitual, everyday experiences, suggesting symbolic assimilation, whereas Japanese cuisine is more frequently framed through cultural markers and positive emotional descriptors—indicating a retained sense of ethnic distinctiveness. This study contributes to broader discussions of authenticity, emotional evaluation, and cultural stratification in consumer discourse, showing how digital reviews both mirror and construct cultural narratives around ethnic food in the U.S.