Immigration and Citizenship in Japan

Japan is currently the only advanced industrial democracy with a fourth-generation immigrant problem. As other industrialized countries face the challenges of incorporating postwar immigrants, Japan continues to struggle with the incorporation of prewar immigrants and their descendants. Whereas others have focused on international norms, domestic institutions, and recent immigration, this book argues that contemporary immigration and citizenship politics in Japan reflect the strategic interaction between state efforts to control immigration and grassroots movements by multi-generational Korean resident activists to gain rights and recognition specifically as permanently settled foreign residents of Japan. Based on in-depth interviews and fieldwork conducted in Tokyo, Kawasaki, and Osaka, this book aims to further our understanding of democratic inclusion in Japan by analyzing how those who are formally excluded from the political process voice their interests and what factors contribute to the effective representation of those interests in public debate and policy.

Reviews & endorsements

“Chung’s depiction of how Zainichi Koreans are adapting to life in contemporary Japan offers a needed update to the classic works by Changsoo Lee and George DeVos. No longer are these Koreans locked into divisions reflecting the Cold War divide in the country of their ancestors. Nor are they stymied by Japan's reputedly homogeneous and oppressive culture. Instead, reflecting on their pioneering role in forcing Japanese society to confront its diversity, they are choosing strategies that will continue to remake the nation as it incorporates new waves of immigrants.”
—Len Schoppa, University of Virginia

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Product details

• Date Published: May 2014
• format: Paperback
• isbn: 9781107637627
• length: 222 pages

• dimensions: 230 x 153 x 18 mm
• weight: 0.35kg
• contains: 3 b/w illus. 6 tables
• availability: Available