A Study of Social Cohesion between Transnational Migrants and Host Society in Japan

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K23255
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0108:Sociology and related fields
• Research Institution: Rikkyo University
• Principal Investigator: Ono Mitsuko 立教大学, 社会学部, 特定課題研究員 (70846203)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-08-30 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 都市エスニシティ研究 / 移民研究 / トランスナショナリズム / 社会的結束性 / 移民コミュニティ

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The following three sub-research questions were established throughout the research period to address the project's research questions. (i) Qualitative research in the immigrant community in the Okubo area. The findings examined the possibility that the' experience of rejection' is not simply an accelerator of segregation but a factor for positive engagement in immigrants' social participation. (ii) In an interactional analysis of service encounters in the Okubo area, the interaction between shopkeepers and customers during service encounters was videotaped. The study attempted to clarify how Japanese, a second language spoken by immigrants, is used and functions in the host society. (iii) Qualitative research on international retirement migration involved life history interviews with 13 elderly Japanese migrants in Thailand. The study clarified how they interacted with the host society and the challenges of the medical and nursing care and insurance systems.

Free Research Field

社会学、都市エスニシティ研究、移民研究

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

近年の英語圏における移民研究では、トランスナショナルな移住者とホスト社会の関係性を重要視する視点である「社会的結束性」の概念に注目が集まり、彼らとホスト社会の連帯をいかに発展させるかが活発に議論されてきた。日本では、1980年代後半以降外国人人口が急増しその後定住化。彼ら独自のビジネスやコミュニティを発展させてきたが、一方で近隣コミュニティとの関わりが乏しいのが現状だ。そこで本研究は、日本におけるトランスナショナルな移住者とホスト社会の「社会的結束性」について、実証研究から明らかにすると共に「社会的結束性」概念の強化及び発展を目指す。