Design for the diversity - foreigners' adaptation process to the living environment in Japan

2018 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 26350005
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Design science
• Research Institution: Kyoto University
• Principal Investigator: SUZUKI Arno 京都大学, 理学研究科, 講師 (20467442)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 鈴木 克彦 京都工芸繊維大学, デザイン・建築学系, 教授 (10115983)
• Research Collaborator: Zhang Zhengran ; Poomchalit Walanrak ; Kitika Chiranthanin
• Project Period (FY): 2014-04-01 – 2019-03-31
• Keywords: 民家 / 和室 / 南アフリカ / タイ / アメリカ人 / 中国人 / 住居 / 保存活用

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The author's team conducted field surveys, including participant observation and in-depth interviews, to find out the current living environment of foreigners who have lived in Japan for years. The surveys revealed that the experience of Asians and Latin Americans and that of Westerners are different. The former group tends to be isolated because their community is large enough to be independent and also because some Japanese people have prejudice on them. The latter is often well treated as "guests," and those who speak Japanese well become accepted in the local community. Westerners in Japan often seek old houses and traditional lifestyle even though some of them may have difficulty with lifestyle such as sitting on the floor. Some Westerners educate Japanese people about the value of historic houses and exercise leadership on the preservation and utilization of them.

Free Research Field

デザイン学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

国際化が進み言語的・文化的境界を超えた人的流動が盛んになる中、外国人受け入れやそれに伴う多文化共生環境の整備を急ぐ必要がある。これまでは、単純作業に従事する労働者、企業や政府から派遣された上流層、そして留学生等の短期滞在者に関する先行研究が見られた。本研究においては、長期滞在者の個別事例についてのより詳細な観察と聞き取り調査を行った。さらに彼らの出身地での生活環境との関連を調べることにより、外国人の日本における生活嗜好や行動の根拠を明らかにした。これにより、今後の多文化共生社会を円滑に営むための情報提供ができると共に、日本の住環境の現在の実情およびその潜在的価値を客観的に見直す機会を得た。