{"id":7995,"date":"2010-12-04T12:18:59","date_gmt":"2010-12-04T03:18:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=7995"},"modified":"2010-12-04T12:18:59","modified_gmt":"2010-12-04T03:18:59","slug":"cnngo-com-will-there-ever-be-a-rainbow-japan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/?p=7995","title":{"rendered":"CNNGo.com: “Will there ever be a rainbow Japan?”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Handbook<\/a>\"\\\"<\/a>\"Foreign<\/a>\"\\\"<\/a>\"\u300c\u30b8\u30e3\u30d1\u30cb\u30fc\u30ba\u30fb\u30aa\u30f3\u30ea\u30fc\u3000\u5c0f\u6a3d\u5165\u6d74\u62d2\u5426\u554f\u984c\u3068\u4eba\u7a2e\u5dee\u5225\u300d\uff08\u660e\u77f3\u66f8\u5e97\uff09\"<\/a>\"JAPANESE<\/a>\"sourstrawberriesavatar\"<\/a>\"debitopodcastthumb\"<\/a>
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Hi Blog. \u00a0Speaking again today in a few hours, so let me post this one again for comment. \u00a0I’m not one to take CNNGo all that seriously as a source<\/a>, but try this article on for size. \u00a0Arudou Debito<\/p>\n

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Will there ever be a rainbow Japan?
\nGovernment statistics suggest multiculturalism is on the rise, but social organizations for mixed-race Japanese say ‘hafus’ still face challenges
\nBy Tracy Slater 1 December, 2010, courtesy PKU<\/strong>
\nhttp:\/\/www.cnngo.com\/tokyo\/life\/will-there-ever-be-rainbow-japan-341969#ixzz176ov3ZDy<\/a><\/p>\n

Japan, which closed its borders from 1639 to 1854 and later colonized its neighbors, has an uneasy history with foreigners, national identity, and multiculturalism.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Yet government statistics and grassroots organizations say multiculturalism in the famously insular country is now on the rise.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Japan: The new melting pot?<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Japan’s national government recently announced it is turning to travelers in a foreigner-friendly mission to boost diversity — at least in tourist spots — by paying them to provide feedback on how to increase accessibility for non-Japanese speakers.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

David Askew, associate professor of law at Kyoto\u2019s Ritsumeikan University, identifies more profound changes.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In 1965, a mere 1 in 250 of all marriages in Japan were international, he notes. By 2004, the number had climbed to 1 in 15 across the nation and 1 in 10 in Tokyo. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

According to Tokyo\u2019s Metropolitan Government, by 2005, foreign residents in the city numbered 248,363, up from 159,073 in 1990.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

According to Askew, the upswing in diverse residents and mixed marriages has led to another phenomenon: between 1987 and 2004, more than 500,000 children were born in Japan with at least one foreign parent.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Celebrating diversity<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A handful of new organizations are tied, at least in part, to the increase in multicultural marriages.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Groups such as Mixed Roots Japan and Hapa Japan, founded by children of mixed-Japanese couples, aim to celebrate the broadening scope of Japanese identity, both nationally and globally.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a real need now to recognize that Japan is getting more multiracial,” says Mixed Roots founder Edward Sumoto, a self-described “hafu” of Japanese\/Venezuelan ethnicity. “The Japanese citizen is not simply a traditional Japanese person with Japanese nationality anymore.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The issue of the identity of hafu is also being explored in a new film titled “Hafu,” currently under production by the Hafu Project.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

In support of multiracial families, Mixed Roots holds Halloween and Christmas parties, picnics and beach days.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The organization also sponsors a monthly radio show on station FMYY, and \u201cShakeforward\u201d concerts in Tokyo and Kansai, accompanied by youth workshops and symposia.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThese events feature mixed-roots artists who promote social dialogue with their songs,\u201d says Sumoto.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The next \u201cShakeforward\u201d concert will be held on November 27 in Kobe. <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

One of Sumoto\u2019s primary goals is to \u201cenable mixed-race kids to meet and talk, so they know there are other people like them.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Despite the statistics, achieving widespread recognition for Japanese diversity has been a struggle for Sumoto and other grassroots organizers.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMentally, do the Japanese think the country is becoming more multicultural?\u201d asks Sumoto. \u201cPossibly more than 20 years ago, because you see more foreigners, but people are still not sure what to do with it.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Multiculturalism on the margins<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Like Sumoto, Erin Aeran Chung, assistant professor of East Asian politics at Johns Hopkins University in Maryland, sees the issue of Japanese multiculturalism as multifaceted.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Chung has written extensively on Japan, ethnicity and citizenship, especially as relates to Zainichi Koreans, descendents of pre-war immigrants, many of whom were brought to Japan as slave labor.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Zainichi literally means \u201cstaying in Japan temporarily.\u201d<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe concepts of ‘multicultural coexistence’ (tabunka ky\u014dsei) and ‘living in harmony with foreigners’ (gaikokujin to no ky\u014dsei)” — catchwords for multiculturalism used by local government officials and NGOs — \u201care based on the idea that Japanese nationals, assumed to be culturally homogenous, can live together peacefully with foreign nationals, assumed to be culturally different from the Japanese,\u201d Chung said in a series of interviews.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cRather than expand the definition of Japanese national identity to include those who are not Japanese by blood or nationality,\u201d Chung argues, \u201cthe concept of ky\u014dsei suggests that Japanese nationals must rise to the challenge of living with diversity,\u201d instead of as part of a group of diverse citizens belonging to a truly multicultural nation.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A recent move by the Japan Sumo Association (JSA) suggests not even citizenship guarantees acceptance as \u201ctruly\u201d Japanese.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

At a meeting last February, the JSA administrative board mandated limiting foreign-born wrestlers to one per stable. The upshot: even if a competitor born abroad becomes a Japanese citizen, he\u2019s still considered the stable\u2019s token foreigner.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The myth of mono-ethnicity<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Underneath the debate over Japan\u2019s willingness to embrace multiculturalism lies the question of how mono-ethnic the nation ever really was.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

According to Ritsumeikan\u2019s David Askew, \u201cThe idea of Japan as mono-ethnic is actually a postwar belief.\u201d <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The Ainu and Ryukyuan ethnic groups, engulfed by Japan during its prewar colonial movement, are examples.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

As for Taiwan and Korea, they \u201cwere part of Japan until 1945, so you could hardly talk about a homogeneous population before then.\u201d <\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe conversation about multiculturalism today is one that focuses on accepting \u2018foreign\u2019 cultures, ignoring the broad range of cultural practices within Japan itself,\u201d says Askew.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cUnless the Okinawas and Osakas of Japan are accepted as different cultures, the discourse will continue to promote the idea of a homogeneous Japan,\u201d says Askew.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

ENDS<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CNNGo: Japan: The new melting pot?<\/p>\n

Japan’s national government recently announced it is turning to travelers in a foreigner-friendly mission to boost diversity — at least in tourist spots — by paying them to provide feedback on how to increase accessibility for non-Japanese speakers.<\/p>\n

David Askew, associate professor of law at Kyoto\u2019s Ritsumeikan University, identifies more profound changes.<\/p>\n

In 1965, a mere 1 in 250 of all marriages in Japan were international, he notes. By 2004, the number had climbed to 1 in 15 across the nation and 1 in 10 in Tokyo.<\/p>\n

According to Tokyo\u2019s Metropolitan Government, by 2005, foreign residents in the city numbered 248,363, up from 159,073 in 1990.<\/p>\n

According to Askew, the upswing in diverse residents and mixed marriages has led to another phenomenon: between 1987 and 2004, more than 500,000 children were born in Japan with at least one foreign parent…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-immigration-assimilation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7995\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.debito.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}