EAS205

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2013-2014
11
EAS205Autu
2015-2016

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2013-2014
Aim
• Introduce the concept of globalization,
• Examine how globalization has impacted on
Japanese society,
• Discuss the inward flow of migrants as catalyst to
the changing perception of Japan’s ethnic identity.

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Objectives:
1) To introduce the ways in which contemporary
Japan has responded to globalization,
2) To focus on the case of migrant workers as a
challenge to Japan’s ethnic identity,
3) To examine the impact of globalization on the
make up of Japanese society.

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Globalization and
regionalization
• Processes that cross borders and promote
interconnectedness – how?.
e.g. Modern means of communication (e.g., internet
and IT) acts as a catalyst for financial and
economic integration.

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• The widening and deepening of links is central to
globalization and regionalization of the financial and
economic worlds.
Though, these processes promote fragmentation.
Alongside the process of integration is the potential
for disintegration.
• Fragmentation - illustrated by protests against
globalization by social groups.
Determined to maintain their own community and
identity against integration pressures.
Developing the links

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How globalization and
regionalization are viewed
• Processes that promote integration by breaking
down the barriers to the state.
Debate: Role of the state in globalization.
State at the mercy of the globalization processes?
CASE: Black Wednesday, 16 Sept. 1992
Sterling forced out of the ERM (European Exchange Rate
Mechanism), unable to maintain the value of the pound against
other European currencies.
State forced to abandon its attempt to maintaining the
exchange rate and protecting the value of its currency.

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How states are subject to
external pressures
Result: UK out of EMS (European Monetary System)
& ERM (European Exchange Rate Mechanism)
Unable to combat the pressures of globalization, states
are forced to change its policy.
• Some critics of globalization highlight the degree of
regionalization, not globalization.
Increasing concentration of the political economy in 3 core
regions = fragmentation of the global political economy.
Europe, centering on the German economy
North America, centering on the US economy
East Asia, centering on the Japanese economy.

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Globalization and the
States
• Growing borderless economy – States, esp. the
core states in EU, US and East Asia regions,
withstand.
• They appear as strong and capable of intervening in
globalization processes, may be by establishing
protective regions for trade.
• The state may not always be able to prevent financial
markets from attacking the currency. (e.g. UK 1992).

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The state and its sovereignty
• Exercising powers gained through sovereignty,
the state can act:
Not a borderless world, but maintain
the continuing importance of the state
even under globalization.
• Minimally as a gate keeper, deciding to a large
extent (not entirely) what can enter or not the
state’s boundaries he world:
• More proactively, they may maintain separate
and distinct parts of the world:

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Response to globalization:
reactivity and proactivity
• Japan is a proactive globalizer, as seen in the
outward flow of goods, investment, and
management techniques.
• The flow of workers for temporary postings
overseas has also led to a certain amount of
globalization of human resources
• Impact both on the workers themselves, but also
on their families, esp. their children who enroll in
local schools.

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Kikokushijo & challenge of
globalization
• The phenomenon of kikokushijo ( 帰国子女 ), or
returnee children who sojourned abroad posing a
challenge to the uniform identity of Japanese
homogeneity:
• Here are children who are ethnically Japanese, but
who may not be able to speak Japanese, write
Japanese or behave as expected in a Japanese
cultural context

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What the returnees face
• They have to negotiate their identity depending
on how & where their time was spent abroad:
• Developed or developing country.
• Attended a Japanese school or a local school.
• Proficiency in language(s).
• Cultural norms, values, and practices.
factors of defining an ethnic identity.
A number of expressions categorize the returnees
as different from the mainstream.

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How they are called
• These may not be the identities the returnees
would adopt for themselves, but rather a way to
show how they are different, negatively or
positively:
• Jun-japa, i.e. ‘purely/thoroughly’ Japanese identity.
• Non-Japa, i.e. non-Japanese (foreign nationals).
• Hen-Japa, i.e. ‘strange’ Japanese: those who seem to
have lost their Japaneseness due to overseas stay.
e.g. Inability to speak the Japanese language as a
result of spending a number of years abroad at their
most formative stage.

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Attraction of ‘foreign-
ness’
• Han-japa—half Japanese, i.e. biracial or
multiracial Japanese.
• May have the ability to speak the language.
• Also seen has having gained something desirable
from a different culture, something kakkoii.
• Shin-japa—or new Japanese
• Those viewed as cosmopolitan, having gone
beyond their narrow Japanese nationality
• Some positive connotation to the expression

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Global vs. homogeneous
• Globalization of the Japanese economy and the
transfer of production facilities abroad.
The flow of Japanese workers, and their families,
overseas.
When the family returns the children may be
regarded by wider J. society as not sharing the
same identity as other Japanese.
This suggests how globalization is challenging
the idea of a homogeneous identity.

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Japan:
‘victim’ of globalization?
• More than viewing itself as a proactive globalizer,
Japanese tend to place themselves as victim of
globalization.
• They need to respond to the pressures generated
on Japan by globalization.
• As a reaction to globalization, Japan has had to
deal with pressures, especially from the US, to
open up its markets and investment opportunities
to other countries.
• This has increased foreign goods in the Japanese
market place and the number of foreign firms and
employees in Japan.

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FDI as an index of
globalization
• Besides portfolio investment, FDI (foreign direct
investment) is a major index of globalization in
economy.
• FDI into Japan is low compared to other industrially
advanced countries:
• FDI in advanced economies normally takes the
form of M&A (merger and acquisition) and setting
up affiliate firms, only a small percentage of the
workforce works for a foreign company.
• In 2002, 1.36% of workers are employed by foreign
firms vs. over 10% in the US.

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Globalization of the
Japanese economy
• Globalization highlighted the global position of
Japan as a wealthy country, attracting not only
finance, but also people:

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Migrant workers
• Migrant workers fill 3K jobs in Japan, which
are Kitsui Kitanai, Kiken (hard, dirty and
dangerous).
• The Immigration Control and Refugee
Recognition Act (Immigration Control Act):
skilled migrant workers & Nikkeijin.
• Differences in the attitudes towards migrant
workers in Japan.

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Push & Pull factors

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Reason: shortage of
workers
• The low fertility rate in Japan, along with a rapidly
aging population, mean there is a need for migrant
worker.
• Skilled workers are managers, finance experts,
technicians, etc., working in foreign affiliates or
recruited by large Japanese companies in order to
improve their competitiveness.
• There is a need for both skilled and unskilled workers
in Japan, but there is a reluctance to open up Japan
to unskilled workers

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SMEs need workers

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The Immigration Control
and Refugee Recognition
Act
• The Immigration Control Act is based on the
idea that Japan only accepts aliens with some
special expertise: in business or in language
teaching (regarded as important by the state).
• All foreigners must qualify for one of the
residency categories stipulated in the
Immigration Control Act.
• Any work incompatible with the residential
status is prohibited, unless with special
permission.

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Long-term visas and
national identity
• In principle, the government does not allow
unskilled workers into Japan.
• ...but, in reality a number of measures have been
taken in order to make this possible.
• The 1990 amendment to the Immigration Control
Act (ICA) introduced new visas, including those
for so called ‘long term residence’.
• The ‘long term resident’ category offers insights
into the government’s view of national identity.

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The new long-term visa
• Intended for third-generation South American-
Japanese descendants (Nikkeijin) and spouses
of second and third-generation Nikkeijin.
• This new category of long term visa (applicable
to 2nd generation Nikkeijin) have acquired a
special economic importance opened a legal
channel to introduce unskilled labour.

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Nikkeijin and Japanese
national identity
• Introducing workers with Japanese lineage,
aimed to maintain the idea of Japanese
homogeneity.
• Yet simply having the same lineage does not
mean the South Americans had the same
identity.
• Different language, customs and cultural
praxis have created a range of difficulties for
the Nikkeijin in settling in Japan.

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The Koreans
• The total number of immigrants allowed to enter
the country (incl. Nikkeijin) low compared to
other industrially-developed countries.
• The flow of immigrants into Japan  a decline
in the percentage of Koreans immigrants.
• Also, increase in Koreans taking out Japanese
citizenship.
• In the 1980s Korean nationals represented 80%
of the foreign residents. Only 26% in 2011.

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What caused the shrinking
• This shrinking in the percentage of Koreans is
due to:
• The 'entertainers' from the Philippines and
Thailand (mid-1980s)
• Workers from Pakistan and Bangladesh (late
1980s)
• Workers in the service sector from China,
South Korea, Thailand, Iran, the Philippines,
Malaysia and Sri Lanka (from the early 1990s)

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Legal and illegal aliens
• The flow of migrants to Japan is largely
determined by the attractiveness of the
Japanese economy to migrants in terms of the
opportunity for employment.
• Whether these migrants enter legally or not is
a separate question:
• Depending on how a state controls its borders
and views the inflow of aliens, migrants will
enter either legally or illegally.

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A multifaceted problem
• Illegal migrants may reflect the erosion of state
sovereignty, but the state may deport them
depending without authorization, or overstaying.
 The needs of industry
 The cost of finding and deporting them
 Politically, expulsion may damage the state’s reputation
 Economically, their importance for the economy
 Socially, how migrants and their family have become
part of the community
 Illegal workers include those who have entered Japan
illegally, working without authorization, or overstaying.

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The gender ratio changes
• 1990 and 2010 differ in their gender ratio
• There is nearly a 30% difference between men and women
back in 1990, which means roughly 3men for 1 women
• Two decades later, they are almost equal in number (ratio=1.07)
Data source: MoJ, 1990-2010

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Gender ratio:
possible causes
• The reasons for the change in gender ratio are
multiple:
• There are more women maybe because those
men who stay in Japan may have their wife
joining him
• There are more women because the ageing
Japan encounters a shortage in health and
daily care personnel
• More work for women in general? Well...

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Opening the country or
not
• Opening the country to foreign workers has its
pros and cons, but in the business:
• Various sectors seems to share similar views
• Generally reluctant to allow in migrant workers,
especially unskilled ones
• But a change of attitude has been seen towards
skilled labour. those with special skills are seen
as beneficial for the Japanese industries:
In seeking a higher quality of products or
services
To enhance international competitiveness

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Different views
• Business owner organizations such as
Keidanren (the largest business association)
and the Japan Chamber of Commerce:
• Recognize a shortage of labour in some
sectors, particularly in 3K jobs
• They have become ready to accept migrant
workers in those sectors
• In contrast, Rengō (Japanese General
Association of Labor Unions) is more hesitant
• Shortages in the labour market should be filled
with Japanese workers, e.g., female workers,
older workers, and irregular workers

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Cabiet Office
opinion poll, 2004
• A vast majority of the Japanese respondents
(69.6%) thought that the Japanese system is
not catching up with the current needs
• Raising understanding of Japanese culture by
foreign workers as the most required element
for working in Japan (rather than the
Japanese language skill)

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Governmental measures
• In April 2006, the government established
cross-ministerial sessions to promote more
smooth accommodation of foreign workers in
Japan
• Improvement of their working conditions
• Provision of language education
• Assistance for re-employment for those who
were laid off
• Introducing the pension system for them, etc.

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Impact of globalization:
international marriage
• Could be seen as another way the ethnic identity
of Japan is challenged,
• As a result of marriage to ‘old/new residents’
• As a result of 'importing' brides from overseas
• Marriage to aliens may be between long-term
residents, e.g., Koreans, and Japanese nationals
• The marriage is international  more in terms of
the nationality
• The resident Koreans can be expected to speak
Japanese and be familiar with Japanese culture

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Marriage between
long-term residents
• These types of marriages are having an
impact on the Korean community as well as
the Japanese
• Through intermarriage and procreation, the
Korean community is being Japanized
• The idea of a separate Korean identity is being
gradually eroded as a result of marriage
• A vast majority of the offspring speak Japanese
and are culturally Japanese

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International marriage:
demographic facts
• Including those to Koreans, marriages to non-
Japanese peaked in 2006, reaching over 1 in 22
registered. Tokyo reached 1 in 11, Osaka 1 in 12
• In percentages: 4% in 2000 (1 in 25), 4.5% in
2006 (1 in 22.2), and 3% in 2010 (1 in 30)
• In 1970, it was less than one in every one hundred
marriages (less than 1%)
• For 2010, figures are much higher for large cities
6.6% (1 in 15 marriages) in Tokyo
5.1% (1 in 20 marriages) in Osaka

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Visualising it
Occurrences of international marriages in Japan as
a whole, in Osaka and in Tokyo

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More in depth
• Over 80% of interntional marriages were
between Japanese men and foreign women,
mostly from other parts of East Asia
• 1st
China, 2nd
Philippines and 3rd
North and
South Korea
• Koreans are long-term residents that had not
naturalized, rather than migrant workers as in
the case of, say, spouses from the Philippines

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In search of a better half:
Yome-sagashi
• Some local governments in depopulated rural
areas have introduced Asian brides to the local
Japanese men
Many Japanese women are not attracted in living in
rural areas
Bachelors in these areas have had to find brides
overseas
If accepting that one of the major roles of women is
reproduction, such initiative indicates the impact of
globalization on human resource production
Rural, depopulated areas are being repopulated by
introducing women from Asia.
Tozawa in Yamagata prefecture illustrates how the
scheme worked in the 1980s (ended in 1990)

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Tozawa, Yamagata, 1980s
• Exodus of eligible women from the village
resulted in a shortage of brides for the local
men
• The local gov't organized trips to S. Korea and the
Philippines in 1989 and successfuly found brides
for eleven of the local bachelors
In 2002, there were 35 foreign wives in the villag.
• The local gov't offered Japanese language
classes and worked to promote international
cultural exchange,
The 'Korean hall' for a closer link with S. Korea

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Testimonial
• One of the foreign brides in Tozawa says:
‘Villagers have changed greatly.
While many were born here and lived here all
their lives, they seem to have turned their
eyes towards the larger world outside’.

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International marriage and
homogeneity
• The increase in the number of international
marriages has led to an increase of children of
international marriages
In 2010 the birthrate was about 3 children per couple
for international marriages, much higher than the 1
child for Japanese to Japanese marriages
International marriages are moving the demographics
of Japan towards a more multiethnic society
There are still strong tendencies to see Japan as
homogeneous

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Conclusion
• The impact of globalization on Japanese
society
• How is Japanese identity challenged?
• The case of migrant workers
• The impact of globalization on the make up
of Japanese society