Japanese Diasporas: Unsung Pasts, Conflicting Presents and Uncertain Futures

by Nobuko Adachi (Editor)

Overview

Japanese Diasporas examines the relationship of overseas Japanese and their descendents (Nikkei) with their home and host nations, focusing on the political, social and economic struggles of Nikkei. Frequently abandoned by their homeland, and experiencing alienation in their host nations, the diaspora have attempted to carve out lives between two worlds. Examining Nikkei communities and Japanese migration to Manchuria, China, Canada, the Philippines, Singapore and Latin America, the book compares Nikkei experiences with those of Japanese transnational migrants living abroad.

The authors connect theoretical issues of ethnic identity with the Japanese and Nikkei cases, analyzing the hidden dynamics of the social construction of race, ethnicity and homeland, and suggesting some of the ways in which diasporas are transforming global society today. Presenting new perspectives on socio-political and cultural issues of transnational migrants and diaspora communities in an economically intertwined world, this book will be of great interest to scholars of diaspora studies and Japanese studies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781135987220
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/03/2006
Series:	Routledge Studies in Asia's Transformations , #7
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	843 KB

About the Author

Nobuko Adachi

Table of Contents

Introduction Part 1: Origins of the Japanese Diaspora 1. The Japanese Diaspora in the New World: Its Asian Predecessors and Origins 2. Japanese Emigration and Immigration: From the Meiji to the Modern 3. Instructions to Emigrant Laborers, 1885-1894: "Return in Triumph" or "Wander on the Verge of Starvation" Part 2: Cultural Identity: From the Incipient Diaspora to Classic Diaspora 4. Paradise Lost: Japan’s Agricultural Colonists in Manchukuo 5. The Intermarried Issei and Mestizo Nisei in the Philippines: Reflections on the Origin of Philippine Nikkeijin Problems 6. Constructing Japanese Brazilian Identity: From Agrarian Migrants to Urban White Collar Workers 7. A Stone Voice: The Diary of a Japanese Transnational Migrant in Canada 8. The Japanese of Peru: The First Century Experience and Beyond 9. Japanese Latin Americans During World War II: A Reconsideration Part 3: Constructing Identities in the Okinawan, Nikkei, and Permanent Resident Diasporas 10. Four Governments and a New Land: Emigration to Bolivia 11. Acting Japanese 12. Crossing Ethnic Boundaries: The Challenge of Brazilian Nikkeijin Return Migrants in Japan 13. Overseas Japanese and the Challenges of Repatriation in Post-Colonial East Asia 14. Negotiating Work and Self: Experiences of Japanese Working Women in Singapore

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

'This volume...represents an important addition to our understanding of historical and contemporary Japan, to an analysis of the movement of Japanese abroad...and to the very nature and dynamics of what it means to be Japanese.' - Eyal Ben-Ari, Journal of Japanese Studies, Volume 33

Editorial Reviews

'This volume...represents an important addition to our understanding of historical and contemporary Japan, to an analysis of the movement of Japanese abroad...and to the very nature and dynamics of what it means to be Japanese.' - Eyal Ben-Ari, Journal of Japanese Studies, Volume 33

From the Publisher