Transcultural Japan: At the Borderlands of Race, Gender and Identity

Summary

Historically Japan has alternated between periods of celebration of a diverse, multicultural society and severe spells of xenophobia and persecution of the Other. This collection of multidisciplinary essays re-introduces the idea of Japan as a multicultural society and reflects a rapidly changing Japan as the Japanese confront a new range of diversity in their midst.

Shedding new light on the manifestations of difference in Japan from a diverse range of authors and perspectives, this extraordinary book is a study of those persons who are very much part of Japanese society today, but whose voices have long been neglected, silenced or oppressed.

Written in accessible language, this broad-based volume is an attractive and useful resource for students and academics, as well as being a timely and revealing contribution to research scholars and for those interested in the phenomena of cultural identities and transformations.

Table of Contents

Foreword 1. Ethnoscapes and the Discourse of The Other in 21^st Century Japan David Blake Willis 2. The Racialization of Japan William Wetherall 3. Positioning Oneself in the Japanese Nation State: The Hokkaido Ainu Case Katarina Sjoberg 4. A Perfectly Ordinary Ethnic Korean in Japan? Kyo Nobuko 5. The Marvelous in the Real: Images of Burakumin in Modern Japanese Fiction Yoshiko Yokochi Samuel 6. From Ethnic Ghetto to ‘Gourmet Republic’: The Changing Image of Kobe’s Chinatown and the Ambiguity of Being Chinese in Modern Japan Tsu Yun Hui 7. Japanese- Brazilian Migrants in the Land of Yen and the Ancestors- Between Priviledge and Prejudice Angelo Akimitsu Ishi and Jornal Tudo Bem 8. Okinawan Diasporic Identities: Between Being a Buffer and a Bridge Wesley Ueunten 9. "Becoming a Better Muslim" Identity Narratives of Muslim Foreign Workers in Japan Akiko Onishi 10. Self as Other: Internationalism as Resistance Among Japanese Women Karen Kelsky 11. Transgressing Women: Reading Narratives of "Filipina Brides" in Japan since the 1980s Nobue Suzuki 12. Dejima: Creolization and Enclaves of Difference in Transnational Japan David Willis 13. Narratives of Living in the Borderlands of Race and Nation in Japan Stephen Murphy- Shigematsu