The Filipino Migrants in Japan: Reconstructing Identity and Nation

Abstract

Transnationalism, or the multiplicity of involvements that international migrants sustain in both home and host countries, allow migrants to reconstruct their own identity, proving that identity is an ongoing process and always changing. Using social semiotics as an analytical tool and in depth interviews among the Filipino migrants as methodology, this paper interrogates the symbols and representations manifested in a big Philippine Festival (Barrio Fiesta) held in Yokohama, Japan and analyzes the processes by which Filipino migrants in Japan reconstruct their identity and to what extent these symbols are internalized by them. The paper shows that objective reality enables these migrants to locate their identities while subjective realities fragment their reconstruction. Identities can be contradictory and therefore semiotic resources are not enough to fully recapture the nuances of these dislocations. The Filipino migrants’ subjective reality, in relation to these shared resources and significations must also be considered. This reconstruction of identity shows that being a Filipino in Japan is not fixed and essential and that the idea of nation crosses beyond geographical borders and thus can be both negotiated.