Kikokushijo as bicultural

Abstract

If you move to another country during your formative years and grow up with two languages and cultures, to which society and culture do you ultimately belong? Such is the question of identity facing many kikokushijo, children of Japanese expatriates. While their readjustment difficulties upon returning to Japan are well documented, efforts to link their intercultural experiences to broader issues of bilingual and bicultural identity have been scarce. This study aims to make that link. Four teenage kikokushijo’s life stories are told. Adjustment difficulties, misfit identities, ambivalent cultural and ethnic allegiance are themes that unite their stories, but each kikokushijo has a different way of dealing with them. An analysis of their stories suggests that factors that impede their adjustment may come from both the society and the kikokushijo themselves. Despite the now prevalent view that today little discrimination against kikokushijo remains, schools in both the host and home countries still tend to fault them for what they do not know while giving little recognition to their bilingual and bicultural abilities. On the other hand, some kikokushijo may also refuse to identify with the society they live in, adding to their own isolation.