Waseda University Doctoral Student Network (WUDSN)
April 22nd, 2008 Featured Speaker

New Patterns of Consciousness Toward Foreigners inJapanese Regional Communities―Focusing on the cases of Wakkanai, Hokkaido and Imizu, Toyama―Speaker
Masao Kobayashi, PhD Candidate, Graduate School of Asia Pacific Studies
I was born in Ota, Gunma Prefecture, where laborers from Asian countries settled in the late 1980s andnikkei South Americans gathered in the 1990s. In this region, despite the presence of foreign laborers, there
has been no change in local attitudes toward foreigners. Relations between laborers and the local community are characterized by a strong sense of prejudice. I can only imagine that this kind of situation is happening all over Japan. For this reason, the subject of my research is “consciousness toward foreigners in Japanese regional communities.” My aim is to investigate a way to improve this consciousness.

Abstract
In the past, there were two main categories of foreigners in Japan. The first was the so called “old-timer,”such as the zainichi Korean (在日コリアン) who came to Japan during the colonial period. The second was theso called “new comer,” such as the nikkei South American Japanese who came to Japan to work in local industrial cities suffering from labor shortages.
However, there is a recent new trend of foreigners increasing in regions where there is no key industry.
This means that their contribution to the local community is becoming larger even though Japanese people’s
awareness of this contribution has not changed, leading to a decrease in the Japanese level of consciousness. Moreover, although it is more so in the case of nikkei South American Japanese, the consciousness
toward foreigners is worsening in regional communities due to little interaction. The two trends combinedresult in the danger of even further consciousness deterioration. I conducted interviews in two cities, Wakkanai, Hokkaido, where there are many Russian sailors and Chinese trainees, and Izumi, Toyama Prefecture,
where there are Russian sailors, Pakistanis who sell the sailors used cars (the number of car lots is about260), nikkei Brazilian Japanese, as well as Chinese trainees. The findings of the interviews reveal the existing
circumstances within Japanese regional society, and raise questions about ways to improve Japanese consciousness toward foreigners.

Commentator

Eriko Suzuki, PhD Candidate, Hitotsubashi University
Eriko Suzuki is PhD candidate at the Graduate School of Social Science at Hitotsubashi University as well
as a lecturer at Rikkyo University. Her research is on overstaying workers in Japan. She is researching Japanese policy toward foreigners and changes in the international workforce. She is also playing an active andsupporting role for foreigners in Japan. Her major books are 『多文化化する日本を考える−国境を越えた人の移動が進展するなかで』（FIF Special Report No. 8, 2004） and 『「多文化パワー」社会−多文化共生を超えて』（共編著，明石書店，2007）.

http://www.waseda.jp/gsaps/WUDSN/index3.27.htm

日時 ：2008年 4月 22日（火） 午後 6時〜8時
Date ：
Tuesday, April 22
18：00〜20：00
会場 ：西早稲田 ビル 19号館
710号室
Venue ：
Sodai-Nishiwaseda Bldg 19 Room 710
主催 / Organized by ： WUDSN
協力 / Supported by ： GIARI
申込不要、自由入場 / Open to the public, free of charge