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Binding: Paperback Dewey Decimal Number: 952.004698 EAN: 9780801488085 ISBN: 0801488087 Label: Cornell University Press Manufacturer: Cornell University Press Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 192 Publication Date: 2002-09 Publisher: Cornell University Press Sales Rank: 493459 Studio: Cornell University Press
Product Description: Faced with an aging workforce, Japanese firms are hiring foreign workers in ever-increasing numbers. In 1990 Japan's government began encouraging the migration of Nikkeijin-overseas Japanese-who are presumed to assimilate more easily than are foreign nationals without a Japanese connection. More than 250,000 Nikkeijin, mainly from Brazil, now work in Japan.
The interactions between Nikkeijin and natives, says Joshua Hotaka Roth, play a significant role in the emergence of an increasingly multicultural Japan. He uses the experiences of Japanese Brazilians in Japan to illuminate the racial, cultural, linguistic, and other criteria groups use to distinguish themselves from one another. Roth's analysis is enriched by on-site observations at festivals, in factories, and in community centers, as well as by interviews with workers, managers, employment brokers, and government officials.
Considered both "essentially Japanese" and "foreign," nikkeijin benefit from preferential immigration policy, yet face economic and political strictures that marginalize them socially and deny them membership in local communities. Although the literature on immigration tends to blame native blue-collar workers for tense relations with migrants, Roth makes a compelling case for a more complex definition of the relationships among class, nativism, and foreign labor. Brokered Homeland is enlivened by Roth's own experience: in Japan, he came to think of himself as nikkeijin, rather than as Japanese-American.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - A very thoroughly researched, well written book
The topic of Japanese Brazilian migrants in Japan is one that very few people outside of Japan or Brazil know about. I'm glad to see that there was a book written about this issue, especially since it involves the complexity of race vs. ethnicity and issues dealing with feelings of isolation, sense of belonging and cultural acceptance, something which we all strive for. Mr. Hotaka Roth did an excellent job of researching the experiences of these migrant workers and presented them in a very honest way. You could tell that he dove into this project fullheartedly by the fact that he made an effort to not only learn Japanese and about Japanese culture, but that he also learned Portuguese and the different nuances of Brazilian culture. Unlike a lot of research books, this book was not dry and did not drag on forever. It was quick paced and easy to read and understand. It keeps the reader interested and each chapter presents itself with new themes.
Rating: - Good overview of today's "multiethnic" Japan
Here is a short, simple book examining the role and place of the ever-growing Japanese-Brazilian population in Japan. Overall, it is a well written piece of work that I found helpful in my reseach. Although it is not the most comprehensive book on Japan's new ethnic minoritiy population,the Brazilians, Roth's work is worthwhile nonetheless.
Rating: - Dekaseki
It's a very good book, good analysis of Nikkei life in Japan.
I read this book and I found that it was more than a simple academic book with statistics, and numbers...It's a realy good view of what is a migrant life in Japan .
Rating: - A view of a changing Japan
In Japan, a country that is thought to be "ethnically pure", the new phenomenon of return migration poses an interesting problem. Nikkei (those who are of Japanese ancestry outside of Japan) Brazilian nationals began migrating to Japan for economic reasons in the 1990s (the government made it particularly easy for them to enter the country, assuming they would adapt to Japanese culture better than those with no ties to the country), and many decided to stay, creating minority enclaves with a culture distinctly their own and NOT Japanese. Joshua Hotaka Roth provides an analysis of Nikkei life in Japan.
Although I read this book as part of a research project, I found that it was much, much more than a dry academic book with lots of statistics (although there certainly were plenty of statistics for anyone looking for solid numerical data). Roth didn't just write about this subject; he experienced it: he worked in a factory side by side with Nikkei Brazilians, lived and associated with Nikkei, and truly participated in his subjects' way of life in Japan. The result is an intimate view of the "return" migrant's experience, including sections on the actual factory work, injury and health insurance issues, and some ways in which Brazilian Nikkei in Japan maintain Brazilian identities while adapting to Japan.
This book is great for anyone who wants to know more about Japan in this time of internationalization, anyone who is interested in international migration, issues of national identity, or anyone who just wants an interesting non-fiction read.
- A very thoroughly researched, well written book
