A Study on the Emotional Content Strategy of Japanese Traditional Culture : Focusing on the Netflix Drama “The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House” (2023)

This study analyzes how traditional Japanese culture is reconstructed into emotion-centered narratives and expressed through emotional practices in contemporary media, focusing on the Netflix drama, The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House (舞妓 さんちのまかないさん, 2023). The drama strategically combines traditional elements such as maiko culture, rituals, and food with an emotion-driven and relationship-focused narrative structure, going beyond mere external representations to establish an emotionally resonant content strategy.<br/> To examine these emotional representations and narrativization of traditional culture, this study analyzed how traditional cultural elements function within the flow of emotions and relational dynamics across the drama’s nine episodes. First, the three-act structure and emotional arcs were used to structurally understand the narrative rhythm of the drama. Then, specific scenes were examined along two key axes: traditional practices and emotional practices. Firstly, it analyzed how identity and communal ethics were embodied through linguistic practices, physical training, spatial regulations, and taboos, centered around the Maiko House. Secondly, it examined how the protagonist Kiyo’s culinary practices served as emotional actions, mediating community relationships and facilitating care through emotional coordination.<br/> The analysis revealed that The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House reconstructs the contemporary significance of traditional culture through emotional narratives, practicing tradition via emotional flows, and fostering communal emotional ethics. This demonstrates that traditional Japanese culture functions as a specific content strategy, embodying everyday care and communal bonds through emotion-focused storytelling.