Research Project (Ongoing)

A Study on the Movement and Networks of Japanese Migrants and Their Descendants Between Japan and Latin America

Emigration from Japan to Latin America started at the end of the 19th century. It restarted after a hiatus during World War II (WWII), and mostly ended in the 1970s. Then from the 1980s onward, those who had emigrated to Latin America and their second- and third-generation descendants started to come to Japan to seek employment. This migration significantly accelerated when the amendment of the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Act came into force in 1990: the legal status of second and third generations of emigrants was stipulated by the act, as Japanese descendants eligible for a Long-Term Resident Visa. The “U-turn” migration of those who emigrated from Japan before or after WWII and their descendants to their (ancestral) homeland is called the return migration of the Nikkei (Japanese emigrants and their descendants).

Since then, while many of those who chose return migration have started to permanently reside in Japan, some have been “re-returning” to Latin America. Thus, there has historically been a continuous movement of people between Japan and Nikkei diaspora communities in Latin America, with the major direction of migration changing with times. This situation continues to develop today and we are now at a stage where the future of these people should be considered on both sides, Japan and Latin America.

This study focuses on the networks among the Nikkei people, which are social capital that they have built through their experience of migration. Migrant networks are seen as an aggregation of connections based on local ties, blood ties and friendship, and they exist in communities in the homelands of the migrants and in their destinations. They connect migrants with other migrants as well as with those who remain in their homeland. The study is conducted based on the hypothesis that such networks influence the formation and preservation of the identity of migrants and their families as well as the spread and proliferation of their cultures.

When we turn our attention to the initiative taken by the migrants, we can get a glimpse of various lifestyles in different times and places, and we can see that their life experience and networks accumulated have been useful, both in Japan and Latin America. To discuss social challenges around the financial situation, working environment and education that the Nikkei people face, many previous studies have analyzed the experience Nikkei people who came to Japan for employment had while living in Japan within the worker category of “dekasegi” (temporary migrant worker). Meanwhile, our study aims to analyze and actively look at the background of these workers as Nikkei and how they define their experience in Japan by themselves through a historical perspective.

Following post-WWII restoration and the high economic growth from the 1950s to the 1970s, Japan changed from a country sending out migrants into a country accepting workers from overseas. It can be said that in the face of the presence of the Nikkei, Japanese society is being confronted by the history of complex movement of people that it has created. This study will try to understand the deep connection between post-WWII Japanese society and Latin American Nikkei communities by listening to the diverse narratives of the Nikkei people while focusing on the series of events and experience gained from pre-WWII migration, post-WWII migration, return migration, to the re-return to Latin America.

The study is analyzing how the identity and culture of the Nikkei people have changed. This is mainly done by orally gathering information on family history and the experience of Nikkei people of different generations using an interview method known as life story interview. In addition, documents like bulletins and newspaper articles that were written in Japanese by migrants and their descendants are being analyzed. Furthermore, we aim to conduct the study while networking with researchers active in Japan and Latin America and collaborating with Nikkei communities.