Gracia Liu-Farrer, author of 'Immigrant Japan: Mobility and Belonging in an Ethno-nationalist Society', discusses the tensions of belonging and not belonging for immigrants in Japan. She explores the reasons people want to come to Japan, where immigrants fit in the economic landscape, and how they navigate belonging in a complex environment. They also discuss the formation of 'ethno-nationalism' in Japan's history and the present and future challenges for the country.
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Personal Migration Story
Gracia Liu-Farrer studies migration because she is a migrant herself, having lived in China, the US, and Japan.
Her personal experience led her to research Chinese migrants in Japan for her dissertation.
insights INSIGHT
Japan's Growing Immigrant Population
Japan's foreign resident population is small compared to other developed countries, less than 3%.
However, it tripled during the three decades of the Heisei era, becoming a newer demographic.
insights INSIGHT
Japan's Shift Towards Immigration
Post-war Japan initially resisted immigration due to sufficient labor and concerns about social problems.
Economic booms and labor shortages later necessitated immigration, leading to policy changes in 1990.
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Immigrant Japan? Sounds like a contradiction, but as Gracia Liu-Farrer shows in Immigrant Japan Mobility and Belonging in an Ethno-nationalist Society (Cornell University Press, 2020), millions of immigrants make their lives in Japan, dealing with the tensions between belonging and not belonging in this ethno-nationalist country. Why do people want to come to Japan? Where do immigrants with various resources and demographic profiles fit in the economic landscape? How do immigrants narrate belonging in an environment where they are "other" at a time when mobility is increasingly easy and belonging increasingly complex? Gracia Liu-Farrer illuminates the lives of these immigrants by bringing in sociological, geographical, and psychological theories—guiding the reader through life trajectories of migrants of diverse backgrounds while also going so far as to suggest that Japan is already an immigrant country.
In this interview we talked about what has contributed to the formation of "ethno-nationalism" in the history of modern Japan and how the growing population of immigrants and the complex reality of their lives offer us a more comprehensive understanding of "belonging" and "displacement" in contemporary Japanese society. After discussing the problems that prevent us from clearly seeing Japan as an immigrant country I asked Gracia two questions about the present and the future of this country:
"Does the COVID19 pandemic introduce any new problems that fall outside the purview of this book, or does the book provide any new insights into current situation?"
"What could people do to create a robust sense of belonging that is inclusive of everyone in Japan?"
Her answers were as insightful and salient as her analysis of the relationship between migration and belonging in Japan.