A Chinatown undeclared: Chinese entrepreneurs' unethnic ways of being in Ikebukuro, Tokyo.

The concentration of Chinese-owned businesses has been increasing in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. This study aims to analyse the extent to which local Chinese businesspeople are inclined to declare their presence as a solidified ethnic community in a metropolitan city. Drawing on the concepts of 'ways of being' and 'ways of belonging', the qualitative interview data suggest the unethnic characteristics of the ways of being in business practices. Chinese entrepreneurs embed their businesses into local institutions and markets, which may render ethnic ways of belonging, such as ethnic association activities and ethnic community-building, at odds with their interests according to their perceptions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]