Constructing the Nation: Japanese Emigration and Immigration from the late 19th to the 21st Century

Abstract

Japan shares with the Netherlands the characteristic of being a historic country of emigration but differs in the distinction of being a ‘latecomer to immigration’. Japan was a country of emigration from late 19th century until well into the 20th century. In the late 20th and the beginning of the 21st centuries, Japan wrestles with the challenges of contemporary immigration. A New York Times article quoted a Latin American Nikkeijin foreign worker in 2009 … “They put up with us (Latin American Nikkeijin) as long as they needed the labor …. But now that the economy is bad, they throw us a bit of cash and say goodbye.” The above quotes reveal a certain ambivalence (White et al., 1990) about the role of nationalism, particularly minzokushugi (ethnic nationalism), in Japan’s emigration and immigration policy. The first quote references Japan’s post-war prohibition against unskilled foreign labour and the change in immigration policy in 1990 that prioritized the ‘blood ties’ of Nikkeijin (Japanese descendants) and resulted in a surge of Latin American Nikkeijin immigration. The second quote refers to the 2009 programme that facilitated the paid voluntary repatriation of the very same unemployed Latin American Nikkeijin to their countries of origin. Nationalism is deployed at different times and periods to justify and legitimize various political actors and actions (Brubaker, 2004). This chapter looks at emigration and immigration policy in modern Japan and argues that they reveal long unresolved and contested visions of the role of ethnicity in Japanese nationalism and national identity.