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The paper seeks to analyze how Hariprabha Takeda, a Bengali woman, in the early twentieth century negotiated with the issues of identity, integration, and cultural assimilation in her narrative from the standpoint of an insider in a Japanese household. Through a close textual analysis of her travelogue Bongomohilar Japan Jatra (1915) and other memoirs (translated as The Journey of a Bengali Woman to Japan (1915) & Other Essays by Somdatta Mandal in 2019), the paper attempts to examine how she was influenced by the Japanese culture and blurred the strict demarcations of private and public spaces through interracial marriage. The paper argues that the notion of pan- Asian identity gained prominence due to the active interest of travelers in exploring and developing cultural and political links between colonial Bengal and Japan, which forms the background to Hariprabha's transnational connections. A critical investigation of her translated narrative opens up various embedded cultural, gender and class issues that she encapsulated as a colonized woman and, thus, helps in situating it in the larger sociocultural and political scenario. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Japan is often said to be homogenous in population, recent years have seen an increase in foreign residents, making it interesting to consider if the same patterns of adaptation of names found in other countries could be observed. A survey amongst foreign residents of Japan showed that while adaptation of names in their pronunciation was common, it was generally uncommon to use Japanese personal names. However, people of Asian heritage used them more commonly. It is suggested that the binary positioning of Japanese identities may make it difficult for some foreigners to take Japanese names, with additional factors such as racial expectations for foreigners possibly influencing some groups’ ability to take Japanese names. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1897, two years after its rise as an imperial power, Japan inaugurated an ambitious experiment to make modern Japanese citizens out of Han Taiwanese schoolgirls in its first overseas colony, Taiwan (1895-1945). To survive in a world surrounded by European and American imperialist powers, the Japanese government sought the acquisition and development of territories in East Asia. In Taiwan, the Japanese colonial government mobilized the local population with the slogan of assimilation (doka). The administration sought to assimilate all non-Japanese into becoming 'Japanese.' For its female subjects, there was an additional goal: the ideal of "good wife, wise mother" (ryosaikenbo). This study examines Han Taiwanese girls' education from 1897 to 1945, which reveals the fracturing of Taiwan schools along ethnic, gender, and class lines. It finds that colonial educational policy was deeply influenced by policy implemented in the metropole and by Japanese relations with other countries. The study concludes that schoolgirls and their families did not completely follow the colonial government's ideology on women's education. With the education and training they received in school, many schoolgirls became professionals instead of following the "good wife, wise mother" model. This study contributes to the conversation on transnational education in the colonial context-- how the educational system in the metropole influenced the educational system in the colonies. It also seeks to understand how the colonial government sought to create an ideal woman citizen to serve the empire. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines Japanese use of the Korean tri-lingual press in promoting its policy of assimilation in colonial Korea. The author distinguishes between discussions of the policy in the English-language newspaper "Seoul Press," the Korean-language "Maeil sinbo," and the Japanese-language "Keijō shinpō." Themes of modernization, Korean identity, and colonial administration were emphasized in these newspapers. The ways in which Japanese prejudice towards Koreans and discriminatory administrative actions undermined assimilation and a positive relationship between the two nations are explained as well.

Although Korea and Japan have had to confront rapidly declining working-age population projections, both countries kept their borders closed to unskilled workers from the mid-1980s to the early 2000s, and met labour demands through de facto guest worker programs and preferential policies for co-ethnic immigrants. However, by the mid-2000s, government officials could no longer turn a blind eye to the swelling ranks of immigrants within their borders and announced two contrasting proposals for immigrant incorporation: centralized rights-based legislation that targets specific immigrant groups in Korea and decentralized guidelines that prioritize community-based partnerships in Japan. Instead of resulting from deliberate decision making by either state to manage the permanent settlement of immigrants, I argue that these divergent approaches reflect grassroots movements that drew on existing strategies previously applied to incorporate historically marginalized groups in each society prior to the establishment of official incorporation programs. Migrant workers in Korea made significant inroads in gaining rights largely because of the strong tradition of labour and civil society activism in Korea's democratization movement. In Japan, grassroots movements led by generations of zainichi Koreans from the 1960s set the foundation for decentralized, community-based strategies for incorporating new immigrants from the late 1980s. Comparing two seemingly similar countries in East Asia, this article identifies patterns of interaction between new immigration and existing practices that have shaped relationships between dominant and minority communities and between state and non-state actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thirty-five Colombian and thirty-five Japanese foreign exchange students were analyzed to determine which group was more completely assimilated into the United States (US) "college" culture. Subsequently, their satisfaction with academic outcomes was explored to determine the effect of this cultural assimilation on students' perceptions. Results indicate that while both the Colombian and Japanese student sojourners closely align with their US counterparts on the dimensions of Power Distance and Uncertainty Avoidance, the Colombian student sojourners also assimilated on the Individualism/Collectivism dimension. As expected, when directly compared and contrasted, the Colombian students assimilated to US culture more easily than Japanese students. Finally, it was determined that although a strong relationship exists between culture and academic perceptions, it was not in the predicted direction, as both the Colombian and Japanese exchange students had higher positive perceptions of the US higher education system than the US students themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

I outline different beliefs about assimilation, and show that these beliefs can influence attitudes toward immigration. Using data from a new national sample survey in Japan, I test whether and how beliefs about assimilation influence attitudes toward immigration. The results show two important conclusions. First, there is a large anti-immigrant sentiment in Japan. Second, after controlling for other known determinants of attitudes toward immigration, I find that those who are in favor of immigrant assimilation support higher levels of immigration, more immigrant equal rights, and have more accurate views about immigrant crime in Japan. This suggests that those favoring assimilation are not necessarily xenophobic in all cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Daejangchon, a village community of Japanese immigrants in colonial Korea, was unique in that it was built in rural area, unlike other Japanese communities in Korea which were typically built near cities. The large-scale development projects of the Japanese colonizers, such as Hosokawa Farm in Daejang-chon, transformed a small village into a modern "town." The radical changes brought to Daejangchon by development resulted in alienation from surrounding villages. The failure of Daejangchon to promote substantial growth for Korean peasants made clear the failure of naisen ittai (Japan and Korea as one body), the professed assimilation policy of Japan. The rapid decline of Daejangchon after liberation proved that the colonial development did not encourage substantial progress in conditions for local Koreans and was unwelcomed by the locals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the social and ideological status of the Ainu people in Japan and the origins of that status through the nation-building era of the nation from the 17th century to in the mid-19th century. Comments are given defining the Ainu as an ethnic minority of Japan which has been marginalized and diminished through centuries of discrimination and hostility. The development of this conception towards the people is examined within the rhetoric used regarding Japanese ethic homogeneity and nationalism of that formative period.

During the 1930s, an entrepreneurial class began to form within the overwhelmingly working-class Korean minority community in prewar Japan. This article examines how certain Koreans attained socioeconomic success and how they became assimilated into Japanese society in the process. As a case study, it focuses on the career of prewar Japan's most successful Korean entrepreneur-turned-politician, Park Chungŭm, to reveal how the internalization of Japanese values that came with success disconnected such individuals from the vast majority of Koreans residing in Japan, while offering them only a problematic sense of identification with the Japanese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines questions surrounding the assimilation and livelihoods of the Ainu in Japan in the early 20th century. Debates conducted in Hokkaido, Japan about the place of the Ainu people in the Japanese national community; Goal of Japan in the assimilation of the Ainu; Argument of Ainu activists regarding the effect of assimilation on their society.

The article presents post-pluralist understanding of religion from a Japanese perspective. In contrast to what John Hick sees in Birmingham, England and other places in the West where Christianity has long been the social and historical majority, the question was asked as "how should Christianity as an extreme minority maintain its distinctive character so as not to be assimilated into the sea of religions?" The religious majority of a society should indeed bear in mind its own overbearing presence, but the minority religion should also raise its voice to be heard, precisely for the sake of pluralism.

Among most Japanese social scientists it has long been taken for granted that Japan is a unique "mono racial" or "homogeneous" society. If this generally accepted idea were true, there would be no immigrant groups in Japan, and there would be no need for research on this particular topic. Within Japanese society, however, there is a mosaic of various ethnic or cultural groups: Yamatos (native Japanese), Ainus, Okinawans, Koreans, Chinese and so forth. A great many historical studies, as well as several social scientific ones, have been carried out to illustrate the pluralistic aspect of Japanese society and culture. This article seeks to present a statistical summary of Japan's immigrant groups and a review of current research on these groups, with the aim of discovering what crucial ethnic problems are faced both by the immigrant groups and the Japanese people themselves. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]