3 Global City Tokyo: Japan’s Diversification from Within
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Helena Hof
Abstract
Chapter 3 shifts the lens to Tokyo, a vibrant metropolis and business hub in the Asia-Pacific region and the capital city of Japan, an ‘island nation’ and country that, despite an influx of migrants over the past three decades, continues to be perceived as largely homogeneous both from within and outside of Japan. The chapter discusses how Japan has rapidly opened up to migration in recent years, leading to an immense diversification of Tokyo’s resident population, including its foreign residents. However, foreigners are still seen as guests rather than immigrants. The chapter traces the roots of Japan’s constructions of difference and thereby explains the peculiar positioning of the (mostly white) European migrants in contemporary Tokyo society.
Abstract
Chapter 3 shifts the lens to Tokyo, a vibrant metropolis and business hub in the Asia-Pacific region and the capital city of Japan, an ‘island nation’ and country that, despite an influx of migrants over the past three decades, continues to be perceived as largely homogeneous both from within and outside of Japan. The chapter discusses how Japan has rapidly opened up to migration in recent years, leading to an immense diversification of Tokyo’s resident population, including its foreign residents. However, foreigners are still seen as guests rather than immigrants. The chapter traces the roots of Japan’s constructions of difference and thereby explains the peculiar positioning of the (mostly white) European migrants in contemporary Tokyo society.
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Series Preface vi
- List of Figures and Tables vii
- List of Abbreviations viii
- Glossary ix
- Notes on the Author xi
- Acknowledgements xii
- Introduction 1
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Spatial Mobility to Asia: Moving Ahead by Moving Out
- The EU Generation and Their Migration Motivations 23
- Destination Singapore: The Dream of a Cosmopolis 51
- Global City Tokyo: Japan’s Diversification from Within 66
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Organisational and Career Mobility: Seizing Security, Success and Self-Realisation
- Singapore: Professionalising the Self 85
- Tokyo: (Dis)Embedding in the Japanese Labour Market 103
- Career Trajectories through an Intersectional Lens 121
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(Im)Mobility through Differentiated Embedding: The Ties That Bind
- Immobility and Emplacement: Making the City Home 147
- Belonging through Romantic Relationships 167
- Conclusion 186
- Positionality: Researching Migrants as a Migrant 198
- Demographic Profiles of Interlocutors 203
- References 212
- Index 242
Chapters in this book
- Front Matter i
- Contents v
- Series Preface vi
- List of Figures and Tables vii
- List of Abbreviations viii
- Glossary ix
- Notes on the Author xi
- Acknowledgements xii
- Introduction 1
-
Spatial Mobility to Asia: Moving Ahead by Moving Out
- The EU Generation and Their Migration Motivations 23
- Destination Singapore: The Dream of a Cosmopolis 51
- Global City Tokyo: Japan’s Diversification from Within 66
-
Organisational and Career Mobility: Seizing Security, Success and Self-Realisation
- Singapore: Professionalising the Self 85
- Tokyo: (Dis)Embedding in the Japanese Labour Market 103
- Career Trajectories through an Intersectional Lens 121
-
(Im)Mobility through Differentiated Embedding: The Ties That Bind
- Immobility and Emplacement: Making the City Home 147
- Belonging through Romantic Relationships 167
- Conclusion 186
- Positionality: Researching Migrants as a Migrant 198
- Demographic Profiles of Interlocutors 203
- References 212
- Index 242
