Ethnic Enclaves In Contemporary Japan

This book is the first work to comprehensively investigate the enclaves of non-Japanese residents in Japan. In a comparative study, it convincingly examines eight enclaves of five nationalities (Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Brazilian and Turkish) in twelve municipalities. Japan now leads in terms of depopulation in countries affiliated with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The fact that the country has been supplementing the decreased number of Japanese nationals with an increase in migrants, who form enclaves, has attracted great attention. The temporal development and status quo of such enclaves are important concerns of researchers, policymakers and the general public. This publication is the result of joint studies by geographers and sociologists and contributes to a more detailed understanding of these topics. It thus represents a valuable achievement in the study of the segregation and enclave formation of minority nationalities. The empirical validity of existing explanatory frameworks, such as spatial assimilation and heterolocalism, is also discussed in a Japanese context.

This book is the first work to comprehensively investigate the enclaves of non-Japanese residents in Japan. In a comparative study, it convincingly examines eight enclaves of five nationalities (Chinese, Korean, Filipino, Brazilian and Turkish) in twelve municipalities. Japan now leads in terms of depopulation in countries affiliated with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The fact that the country has been supplementing the decreased number of Japanese nationals with an increase in migrants, who form enclaves, has attracted great attention. The temporal development and status quo of such enclaves are important concerns of researchers, policymakers and the general public. This publication is the result of joint studies by geographers and sociologists and contributes to a more detailed understanding of these topics. It thus represents a valuable achievement in the study of the segregation and enclave formation of minority nationalities. The empirical validity of existing explanatory frameworks, such as spatial assimilation and heterolocalism, is also discussed in a Japanese context.

The recent manifestation of exclusionism in Japan has emerged at a time of intensified neoliberal economic policies, increased cross-border migration brought on by globalization, the elevated threat of global terrorism, heightened tensions between East Asian states over historical and territorial conflicts, and a backlash by Japanese conservatives over perceived historical apologism. The social and political environment for minorities in Japan has shifted drastically since the 1990s, yet many studies of Japan still tend to view Japan through the dominant discourses of "ethnic homogeneity (tanitsu minzoku shakai)" and "middle-class society (so ̄churyu ̄-shakai)" which positions the exclusion of minorities as an exceptional phenomenon. While exclusionism has been recognized as a serious threat to minority groups, it has not often been considered a representative issue for the whole of Japanese society. This tendency will persist until the discourses of tanitsu minzoku shakai and so ̄churyu ̄-shakai are systematically debunked and Japan is widely recognized as both multiethnic and socio-economically stratified. Today, as with most advanced capitalist countries, serious social divides occasioned by the impacts of globalization and neoliberalism have destabilized Japanese society. This book explores not only how Japanese society is diversified and unequal, but also how diversity and inequality have caused people to divide into separate realities from which conflict and violence have emerged. It empirically examines the current situation while considering the historical development of exclusionism from the interdisciplinary viewpoints of history, policy studies, cultural studies, sociology and cultural anthropology. In addition to analyzing the realities of division and exclusionism, the authors propose theoretical alternatives to overcome such cultural and social divides.

Drawing on the full range of materials published during the twentieth century, this three volume set incorporates previously published material concerning the formation of 'racial' identities in Japan, and social exclusion as experienced by the Ainu, Burakumin, Okinawans, and Chinese and Korean residents. It also includes material related to migration, both pre- and post-war, with special reference to the formation of Nikkeijin (Latin American national of Japanese descent) communities. In addition to those populations conventionally defined as minorities, 'racial' discourse also affects Japanese attitudes toward and perceptions of other groups (e.g. Asians, Blacks, Jews). To ensure both the fullest possible coverage of the related literature and to provide a framework for comparative analysis, this set also incorporates analyses of Japanese attitudes toward these groups. Intended as a resource for both students and specialist researchers, this collection provides a unique introduction of the English language literature related to 'race', migration, and identity in Japan. In addition to textual material related to specific issues or groups, the set provides comprehensive bibliographies and a listing of relevant Internet sources. There is also a new introduction and thorough index, making this set an invaluable reference tool.

"...a valuable addition to the increasing literature on Japanese multiculturalism which has challenged the long-held homogeneous Japan thesis...A particular contribution of this ... book is to illuminate the ground-level process where hybridities emerge and group boundaries are redrawn in a particular local context...I greatly enjoyed reading [this book] from beginning to end. My undergraduate students who encountered it in their subject reading list also enjoyed it. I would recommend it highly for both undergraduate and graduate students studying Japanese society." - Japan Studies "This book importantly seeks out the meanings behind the nooks and crannies in which peoples from different cultures are juxtaposed within Japan. However the real work of living side by side, of respecting individual and cultural differences, of embracing diversity...remains a vital challenge to both Japan, as well as to scholars who stand poised to connect the dots of this critical and evolving picture. I recommend this volume as one further step toward that undertaking." - Asia Pacific World "...a very readable volume offering through its focus on the local a vivid picture of multiculturalism in Japan. All articles are ethnographically grounded and it is here, and not in systematic and theoretically exhaustive treatment of the subject of multiculturalism." - Zeitschrift für Ethnologie Like other industrial nations, Japan is experiencing its own forms of, and problems with, internationalization and multiculturalism. This volume focuses on several aspects of this process and examines the immigrant minorities as well as their Japanese recipient communities. Multiculturalism is considered broadly, and includes topics often neglected in other works, such as: religious pluralism, domestic and international tourism, political regionalism and decentralization, sports, business styles in the post-Bubble era, and the education of immigrant minorities.

Provides clear historical introductions to the six principal ethnic minority groups in Japan, including the Ainu, Chinese, Koreans and Okinawans, and discusses their place in contemporary Japanese society.

This is the first anthology that conveys in detail the actual situation of population geographies in Japan, a country facing some of the world's most serious demographic trends such as low fertility, population aging, and depopulation. The anthology consists of two volumes with the common title Japanese Population Geographies. All of the included entries are based on original Japanese papers written by leading geographers and published within the past few years, useful for understanding Japan’s current population geographies. The first volume analyzes the postwar transition of internal migration, examining the structural changes of population in urban areas, and proposes a new measure different from the traditional resident population. This volume also presents an investigation of the retirement migration of baby boomers as well as displacement migration due to the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. The second volume’s contents examine the residential choices of minority populations such as foreign residents and sexual minorities. It also discusses future prospects associated with mono-polar concentration into Tokyo, regional forecasting using population projections based on small-area units, and the importance of a politico–economic perspective in future research. Taken as a whole, this anthology offers the following two significant contributions. First, the excellent achievements obtained in Japan, which is experiencing serious demographic trends, reflect key developments within the context of the world's population geography. The second contribution is that the publication brings the latest insights and important policy implications to countries that are facing various issues associated with decreasing fertility, aging population, and declining population.

First published in 2000. This book aims to study the shifting identity of Japanese returnees(kikokushijo) within a migrational context. The core findings, based on literature and fieldwork in Brussels and Japan.

Multiethnic Japan challenges the received view of Japanese society as ethnically homogeneous. Employing a wide array of arguments and evidence--historical and comparative, interviews and observations, high literature and popular culture--John Lie recasts modern Japan as a thoroughly multiethnic society. Lie casts light on a wide range of minority groups in modern Japanese society, including the Ainu, Burakumin (descendants of premodern outcasts), Chinese, Koreans, and Okinawans. In so doing, he depicts the trajectory of modern Japanese identity. Surprisingly, Lie argues that the belief in a monoethnic Japan is a post-World War II phenomenon, and he explores the formation of the monoethnic ideology. He also makes a general argument about the nature of national identity, delving into the mechanisms of social classification, signification, and identification.