2013 Fiscal Year Annual Research Report
日本は移民国家か？日本とオーストラリアにおける移住者の市民意識と帰属感の比較研究
| Project/Area Number |
23330169
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| Research Institution | Waseda University |
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Principal Investigator |
FARRER GRACIA 早稲田大学, アジア太平洋研究科, 准教授 (70436062)
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| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
田嶋 淳子 法政大学, 社会学部, 教授 (20255152)
イシ アンジェロ 武蔵大学, 社会学部, 教授 (20386353)
川上 郁雄 早稲田大学, 日本語教育研究科, 教授 (30250864)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2011-11-18 – 2015-03-31
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| Keywords | immigrant mobility / belonging / identity / socioeconomic gap / fieldwork |
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| Research Abstract |
During this financial year, our project team's major efforts were made in the following two areas. First, based on the data we have already accumulated and in order to be able to conduct meaningful comparative analysis, we adjusted the focuses of the project and did a new wave of data gathering. In particular, Farrer (PI) aimed to compare the first generation immigrants' socioeconomic mobility patterns and their sense of belonging in Japan. Since data on Nikkei Brazilians was not sufficient, she and her research assistant conducted fieldwork--both participant observation and focus group discussion--among this group of immigrants in Kanto Area. This research effort gives insights to the causes for different mobility trajectories between different immigrant groups in Japan, especially in accounting for the socioeconomic mobility gap between Nikkei Brazilians and the Chinese and Koreans. In addition, after finishing gathering the data in Australia, Kawakami (CI) continued to gather data among second-generation Vietnamese immigrants in Japan, so as to be able to compare their identity and belonging in these two different immigrants contexts.
The other main research activity this year was data analysis and preparing research reports for publication. Tajima (CI) and Zhao (Research Collaborator) presented their research paper at the Japanese Society of Sociology Annual Conference. Farrer presented at several international conferences and symposiums. One of her articles is published in Asian Pacific Migration Review (SSCI journal).
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| Current Status of Research Progress |
Current Status of Research Progress
2: Research has progressed on the whole more than it was originally planned.
Reason
The project's original plan is to understand the immigrant situation in Japan in order to gauge whether Japan is on its way to become an immigrant country. In order to gain perspectives, we proposed to compare immigrants' identity and belonging first among different immigrant communities (Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos and Nikkei Brazilians) in Japan; second between the first and second generation immigrants; and finally comparing immigrant outcomes in different social and institutional contexts-- Japan and Australia. After three years' research efforts, we managed to more or less follow the original plan with some adjustments.
We have now gathered sufficient data and will be able to do the following: 1) Comparing the socioeconomic mobility patterns and sense of belonging among first generation immigrants from China, Korea, the Philippines and Brazil, and understanding the causes for gap between these groups; 2) Comparing the first and second generation Chinese immigrants' sense of belong in Japan; 3) Comparing the second generation Chinese immigrants' different identity outcomes and their reasons in Australia and Japan; and 4) Comparing Vietnamese youth's incorporation and identity in Australia and Japan.
We have also found out that parts of original proposal were realistic. For example, we have realized it was not possible to find perfect comparison between second generation Brazilians in Australia and in Japan. We have also adjusted some methods in data collection to maximize information input.
Overall, the research has been progressing according to plan.
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| Strategy for Future Research Activity |
Next year will be the final year of this research project. We have three major goals. First, we would like to finish data analysis and disseminate our research findings internationally. Aside from presenting at international conferences and submitting journal articles individually, we plan to organize an international symposium at Waseda University. It is tentatively titled: Where Do We Belong: First and Second Generation Immigrants in Australia and Japan. All project participants will deliver their research results at the symposium. Moreover, we plan to make this symposium an international event, and will solicit research papers related to this symposium publicly.
Second, the PI still needs to collect more data on Nikkei Brazilians, especially narrative data from individual interviews. This fieldwork effort will be completed in the first half of the financial year.
Finally, the PI will prepare the application for next year's research funding. Based on the findings from this project, we have realized that the issue of socioeconomic gap among immigrant groups in Japan needs immediate attention otherwise new underclasses might emerge among immigrants. What is the pattern of immigrants' socioeconomic locations in Japan and why do different immigrant groups fair so differently? Although qualitative research has helped us see some of the causalities, a more comprehensive understanding needs a larger scale quantitative survey. We plan to continue this line of inquiry in the future project.
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Research Products
(9 results)
