2022 Fiscal Year Research-status Report
Changes in Representations of Blackness in Japan
| Project/Area Number |
22K01095
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| Research Institution | Gifu University |
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Principal Investigator |
JG Russell 岐阜大学, 地域科学部, 非常勤講師 (90262740)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2022-04-01 – 2025-03-31
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| Keywords | dual heritage / race / intersectional racism / mukokuseki / diversity / colorism / social media / representation |
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| Outline of Annual Research Achievements |
During the first two months of the project from April to May, I searched for and identified internet sites of online communities that focus on the experiences of blacks and dual heritage, or mixed roots, black Japanese. This included identifying and collecting background information about specific YouTube channels such as The Black Experience in Japan and organizational websites such as Japan African American Friendship Association (JAFA), and Black Women in Japan, Africans in Japan, Black Creatives Japan, Jaspora, and Legacy Foundation Japan, as well as Japanese websites such as Japan 4 Black Lives that have emerged or gained traction in following the police murder of George Floyd in America and in the wake of the global Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement.Subsequent months were devoted to the collection and analysis of articles Japanese-language and English-language internet sites in which racial representation in Japanese popular culture was discussed.
I presented research based on this project at an international hybrid workshop in which I participated via Zoom entitled “Researching Whiteness in a Transnational Pandemic Workshop” sponsored by the University of Amsterdam (December 2, 2022). I have completed drafts of two English-language papers, including a revised version of my University of Amsterdam workshop paper, based on the analysis of data obtained by the project and submitted them for publication as chapters in two forthcoming edited English-language volumes from academic publishers.
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.
Reason
In addition to collecting data on discussions of racial representation and black representation from Japanese-language and English-language websites, forums, and matome sites, I am continuing to review online YouTube videos in which black people and dual heritage black Japanese are interviewed about their experiences in Japan and coding their content by the age, gender, nationality of interviewees, and region/prefecture in which the interviewees reside to identify common and divergent experiences, concerns, and themes. Topics of analysis includes what has become contentious discussions on the whiteness of anime characters (so-called hakujin setsu) and Japanese reaction to the race-switching of anime characters by black artists who depict them as black and to black cosplay where black anime/manga fans portray non-black anime characters. Analysis of this materials will serve as comparative data as I conduct my own interviews in Japan.
Although the project originally included plans to examine discussions of racial representation in mainstream television programs, in 2022 such discussions were few. In contrast, the issues of racial representation and the experiences of blacks in Japan have garnered greater internet coverage, with several websites and vlogs devoted to the issue, including Japanese-language websites devoted to chronicling the experience of blacks and black Japanese that have emerged in the wake of the global Black Lives Matter movement.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
I plan to continue to analyse YouTube videos and monitor other online website, particularly matome sites which discuss current controversies. On the basis of this review of online data, a project description for participants, interview protocol, and participant consent form have been prepared for use in one-on-one and group interviews with project participants. Although I had originally planned to begin interviews by the winter of 2023, I have decided to postpone them due to the difficulty of locating participants and the fact that in-person events sponsored by the online organizations that would have provided opportunities to meet and interact with potential interviewees have been postponed or cancelled due to the pandemic and because some organizations maintain only an online web presence.
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| Causes of Carryover |
The pandemic has made it difficult to travel to conduct in person interviews because events sponsored by organizations have not been planned or have been postponed. In addition, a plan to travel to the U.S. to attend the annual meeting of the Association of Asian Studies in Boston (March 16-19) had to changed to the virtual conference (February 17-18) because of rising exchange rates which could not be covered by remaining research funds.
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