Working Like Goldfish: Emotional Labor and the Creation of Modern Consumer Culture in Japan, 1900s–1930s

Department stores have served as significant commercial and cultural institutions, transforming retail systems, consumption patterns, and people’s tastes in many countries since the late 1840s, when the first department store emerged in Paris. However, the adaptation of their business models and influence varied depending on social contexts. This article examines Japanese department stores from the 1900s to the 1930s, focusing on the role of restaurants within these establishments. Department store restaurants not only redefined the customer experience through innovative food services but also played a crucial role in reshaping the business itself. Central to this transformation were the waitresses, often referred to as “restaurant girls,” whose emotional labor became integral to the department store’s operations. Their work introduced the incorporation of personality into business management, highlighting how the performance of personality—both gendered and productive—was leveraged in the modern commercial world.