Japanese Diasporas
Unsung Pasts, Conflicting Presents and Uncertain Futures
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Book Description
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.
Table of Contents
Introduction Part 1: Origins of the Japanese Diaspora 1. The Japanese Diaspora in the New World: Its Asian Predecessors and Origins Roger Daniels 2. Japanese Emigration and Immigration: From the Meiji to the Modern James Stanlaw 3. Instructions to Emigrant Laborers, 1885-1894: "Return in Triumph" or "Wander on the Verge of Starvation" Jonathan Dresner Part 2: Cultural Identity: From the Incipient Diaspora to Classic Diaspora 4. Paradise Lost: Japan’s Agricultural Colonists in Manchukuo Greg Guelcher 5. The Intermarried Issei and Mestizo Nisei in the Philippines: Reflections on the Origin of Philippine Nikkeijin Problems Shun Ohno 6. Constructing Japanese Brazilian Identity: From Agrarian Migrants to Urban White Collar Workers Nobuko Adachi 7. A Stone Voice: The Diary of a Japanese Transnational Migrant in Canada Keibo Oiwa 8. The Japanese of Peru: The First Century Experience and Beyond Daniel Masterson 9. Japanese Latin Americans During World War II: A Reconsideration Lane Hirabayashi and Akemi Kikumura-Yano Part 3: Constructing Identities in the Okinawan, Nikkei, and Permanent Resident Diasporas 10. Four Governments and a New Land: Emigration to Bolivia Kozy Amemiya 11. Acting Japanese Gary Okihiro 12. Crossing Ethnic Boundaries: The Challenge of Brazilian Nikkeijin Return Migrants in Japan Takeyuki "Gaku" Tsuda 13. Overseas Japanese and the Challenges of Repatriation in Post-Colonial East Asia Mariko Asano Tamanoi 14. Negotiating Work and Self: Experiences of Japanese Working Women in Singapore Leng Leng Thang, Miho Goda, and Elizabeth MacLachlan References Index
Editor(s)
Biography
Nobuko Adachi is Research Affiliate and Visiting Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Illinois State University, USA. She is co-editor of Pan-Japan: The International Journal of the Japanese Diaspora.
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