Being Korean, Becoming Japanese? : Nationhood, Citizenship, and Resistance in Japan / Hwaji Shin.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Shin, Hwaji, Author.

Contributor:

University of Michigan. Center for Japanese Studies, Funder.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Koreans--Japan--Social conditions.

Koreans.

Koreans--Legal status, laws, etc--Japan--History.

Nationalism--Japan.

Nationalism.

Japan--Ethnic relations--Government policy.

Japan.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (284 p.) : 9 b& white illustrations

Place of Publication:

Honolulu : University of Hawaii Press, [2024]

Language Note:

In English.

Biography/History:

Shin Hwaji : Hwaji Shin is professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of San Francisco.Hwaji Shin is professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of San Francisco.

Summary:

In Japan, the number of “Special Permanent Residents”—most of whom are of Korean descent, the so-called “Zainichi”—is declining, according to government statistics. Does this mean Koreans living in Japan are becoming Japanese? This volume presents a compelling sociological analysis of Korean colonial migrants’ and their descendants’ politics of self-identification and their ongoing struggle for social justice. Centering on the social and political exclusion of Koreans, the book asks two fundamental questions: What has triggered the historical transformations of nationhood, citizenship, and migration policies in twentieth- and twenty-first-century Japan? How are these transformations related?Hwaji Shin challenges the persistent belief that Japan’s ethno-racial homogeneity is responsible for its restrictive citizenship and immigration laws. She argues that the relationships between nationhood, citizenship, and migration in Japan have always been fluid and historically contingent rather than causal or static. Her work examines the nexus of these three concepts from a subaltern perspective and illuminates the ways in which non-state, marginalized actors directly influenced the state’s development of citizenship and immigration policies. It explores the failures and triumphs of Koreans resisting Japanese ethno-racial oppression through stories of ordinary lives that have been disrupted by wars, elites’ interests, and geopolitics. Being Korean, Becoming Japanese? draws on rich historical data to provide a powerful narrative about how Koreans in Japan have defiantly survived and thrived to impact the country’s ideas and policies of nationhood, citizenship, and migration for more than a century.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Preface

Acknowledgments

A Note on Names

Chapter One. Introduction: A Pendulum- Swing Pattern of Change

Chapter Two. Pan-Asian Empire

Chapter Three. The Birth of a Homogeneous Nation-State

Chapter Four. The Fight for Social Justice and Human Rights

Chapter Five. Conclusion: Toward Diverse and Inclusive Japan

Notes

Bibliography

Index

About the Author

Notes:

This eBook is made available Open Access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 license: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0

Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (publisher's Web site, viewed 23. Apr 2025)

ISBN:

9780824898342