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Minorities in Japan as Seen through the Lens of Resident Koreans
Organizer: David Rands, University of Southern California
Chair: Harumi Befu, Stanford University
Discussant: Jeffrey P. Bayliss, Trinity College
As the largest non-Japanese population of Japan, the Korean community offers valuable insights into conditions of other Japanese minority groups and allows for us to trace the trajectory of community development within a minority group. David Rands’ research links the local conditions to the initial formation of Resident Korean communities. He demonstrates that historic factors specific to each location are central to determining the success or failure of community development. Soo-Im Lee continues the narrative by presenting a compelling look at the process through which these Resident Koreans, often referred to as Zainichi Koreans, were granted and excluded from obtaining Japanese citizenship. This is followed by David Chapman, who discusses the diverse avenues of discrimination, and the ways discrimination is received by the Zainichi Korean communities. In doing so, he allows for a more complicated study of the nature of discrimination. This is followed by Noboru Tomonari, who explains the emphasis of cultural continuity and community in the films of a contemporary Zainichi filmmaker. In a unique effort to build on the research of one another, the panelists attempt to present a narrative of the Resident Korean community, from inception through the struggles of identity of third and fourth-generation Zainichi Koreans today, which will act as a lens for research on other minority groups as well.
Romeo and Jong-il: Queering the Korean Diaspora in Japan
Christopher D. Scott, Macalester College
Sino-Japanese literature during the Heian Period was closely linked to courtly themes, values, and practices. Courtiers celebrated their service in the imperial bureaucracy through metaphors of friendship and revelry, ornate and complex diction was preferred over plain and earthy styles, and literary production was driven by the calendar of annual observances and public celebrations. While Sino-Japanese was the dominant idiom of public court performance until the late ninth century, the vernacular language gained public stature in the early tenth century as can be seen in the celebration of vernacular poetry contests, the compilation of imperial anthologies, and the beginnings of tale literature that became emblematic of the Heian Period.
To explore the characteristics of Heian Sino-Japanese literature this paper showcases a courtly twin genre with a suggestive parallel development: that of poetry contests. In contrast to most other genres or occasions of literary composition where the Sino-Japanese form preceded a vernacular appropriation of the practice, Sino-Japanese poetry contests (shiawase) developed, inversely, in response to vernacular poetry contests (utaawase) that originated in the late ninth century.
The paper intends to contribute to a deeper understanding of the specific competitive dynamics that unfolded between Sino-Japanese and vernacular literary production in the Heian Period..
Zainichi Koreans and Japanese Naturalization
Soo im Lee, Ryukoku University, Japan
Despite the persistence of Japan’s image as a closed, ethnically homogeneous nation-state, over the past few decades there has been a sharp increase in the number of foreign nationals applying for Japanese citizenship. Given demographic trends in Japan, these numbers are likely to increase. Over 60 percent of all applicants for naturalization in Japan are Korean nationals. Therefore, Japanese naturalization policies are likely to have major implications for both the future of Japanese society and the Korean community in Japan. Yet, despite its importance, relatively little is known about how the Japanese naturalization policy actually functions. The final decision of whether to accept a naturalization application is left largely to the Ministry of Justice, and the procedures and criteria for making a decision remain ambiguous and shrouded in a veil of bureaucratic secrecy. The aim of this paper is to use the Korean experience as a lens through which the we can explore the ways in which Japanese naturalization policy is carried out, to trace the ways in which it has evolved, and to shed light on the underlying myths, beliefs and calculations of economic and political interest on which those policies are based.
Foundations of Minority Communities: Resident Koreans in Japan
David Rands, University of Southern California
With increasing attention being paid to immigration and the development of ethnic enclaves throughout the world, much can be learned by looking at the formation of Korean communities in Japan. As the largest immigrant group on the archipelago, and with over a century of history since their initial migrations, the dynamics of the development of Japan’s Korean communities holds important hints at the factors involved in the success or failure of more contemporary migrations to Japan. This paper seeks to explain the correlations between the development of Resident Korean communities and the different host environments they interacted with in Japan. Factors such as the built environment, proximity to central power, and labor practices led to the formation of distinct communities, some of which have prospered while others stagnated. This paper, in addressing geographical influences of the development of Korean communities, allows for additional insight into the role of geography in the formation of Japan’s minority communities, and provokes insight into the relationship between Japan’s ethnic minorities and the specific areas to which they migrate.
Forging Ties with Family and Community: Films of Sai Yoichi
Noboru Tomonari, Carleton College
Sai Yoichi (1949- ) is one of the prominent Zainichi Korean filmmakers who are making films in Japan today. Since his debut in 1983 with “Jukkai no Mosukito” (Mosquito on the 10th Floor), he has been prolific in making films. In the 1980s, he was making action films, films starring popular young actresses for Kadokawa Films, and even made a soft-porn film for Nikkatsu. In 1991, however, he began to collaborate with Chong Wie-sin (1957- ), who is also Zainichi Korean, to write screenplays for his own cinema. This resulted in some films that directly portray Zainichi Koreans. Those films, such as 1993's “Tsuki wa Dotchi ni Deteiru” (Which Way is the Moon) and 2004's “Chi to Hone” (Blood and Bone) were enormously successful. My paper delineates some of the thematic concerns that permeate both Sai's early entertainment oriented films and his later more serious films. Among the issues that I observe is his focus on maintaining cultural continuity and that of wandering. There is a strong obsession on the part of the protagonists in Sai's films to seek and to recover family connections and culture. I connect those aspects of his films to experiences of the second and third generations of Zainichi Koreans during the last few decades. As such, Sai's films provide significant insights on how Zainichi Koreans see Japan and themselves today.