African migrants in Japan: Social capital and economic integration

Agyeman, Edmond Akwasi

doi:10.1177/0117196815609493

Cited by 9 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…However, most Africans tend to reside in the Tokyo Metropolitan area and are very visible given their overrepresentation in jobs within popular entertainment districts and Africans figure prominently in discussions of migrant issues in Japan (Brasor, 2007). Both skilled and unskilled African migrants and other individuals from the African diaspora often intermingle with each other because anyone with African ancestry is generally treated as one undifferentiated community by most people in Japan (Agyeman, 2015; Ivory, 2017; Capobianco, 2015). Furthermore, the intersection of race and gender can lead to different modes of reception for migrants in Japan.…”

Section: Immigrant Incorporation and The Context Of Reception In Japanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bifurcated incorporation and migrant social mobility in Japan

Ivory

2022

International Migration

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The context of reception is crucial in establishing different mobility pathways for migrants within host societies. Given that access to government resources is increasingly reserved for citizens and permanent residents and most states provide relatively few avenues to naturalization or permanent residence, host country human capital and social networks are often vital for upward social mobility. I use a variety of research methods including 60 semi‐structured interviews, over 800 hour of participant and non‐obtrusive observation, and ethnography from a 14‐month period in 2011–2012 in the greater Tokyo metropolitan area to investigate how Sub‐Saharan African migrants pursue mobility within Japanese society. I theorize that there are two distinct groups of long‐term staying migrants in Japan: one initially incorporated as unskilled laborers and another initially incorporated as skilled laborers. Migrants initially incorporated as skilled workers have comparatively greater access to state resources and discretion to incorporate as individuals. Migrants initially incorporated as unskilled laborers must rely on the intervention of native‐born individuals in order to experience upward mobility. These findings suggest that visa status is an important signal of initial migrant incorporation trajectory and a significant moderating factor for individual outcomes and social mobility in Japan.

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Section: Immigrant Incorporation and The Context Of Reception In Japanmentioning

confidence: 99%

Bifurcated incorporation and migrant social mobility in Japan

Ivory

2022

International Migration

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“…Carl's story is in many ways representative of the lives of Africans working in Japan's nightlife industries. Scholars have observed and discussed the conditions and hardships that Africans face living and working in Japan (Agyeman 2015;Capobianco 2018;Ivory 2017;Kawada 2005Kawada , 2007Schans 2012aSchans , 2012b. Of particular interest here is the fact that Carl tried to pass himself off as Jamaican.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

African presentations and Japanese discourses: the construction and projection of difference

Capobianco¹

2021

Asian Anthropology

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This article examines the different ways Africans present themselves in Japan and considers what these differences explain about the function of ethno-racial categories and discourses in the Japanese context. Specifically, it highlights the importance of cultural factors in shaping the ways Japanese discourses conceptualize and engage categorical difference, as well as the limitations of examining difference in solely racial or ethnic terms. This article considers data from Africans who present themselves as being from places other than continental Africa and demonstrates how these presentations elucidate the dynamic cultural, geographic, socioeconomic, and contextual variables that inform how Japanese discourses construct cultural Otherness. In constructing such Otherness, Japanese discourses project domestic identity ideologies differently onto foreign populations, which simultaneously highlight the functionality of these ideologies. This article suggests that by constructing Otherness in such ways, Japanese discourses are able to reconceptualize notions of domestic Japanese identity in a renewed sense within a global framework.

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“…Currently, however, little is known about the suicide risk facing foreigners in Japan. Foreigners in Japan face particular challenges to the management of their physical and psychological health, in particular due to cultural differences and language barriers [13], but also challenges due to marginalization, racism, and exclusion, which can be alleviated through social networks and psychosocial support [14]. In this context, research about the rate of suicide mortality among foreigners in Japan, and comparison with rates in the home country of foreign residents, is important to understand how suicide risk differs in foreigners living in Japan.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Suicide Mortality in Foreign Residents of Japan

Gilmour

Hoshino

Dhungel

2019

IJERPH

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Suicide is a major public health issue in Japan, with very high rates of death compared to other countries in the Asia Pacific. Foreigners living in Japan may be at increased risk of suicide, but little is known about how their risk of suicide differs from that of their country of origin or Japanese nationals. We used data on suicide mortality from the Japan Vital Registration System for the period 2012–2016 to analyze risk of suicide mortality in Japan for Japanese, Korean, Chinese, and other nationalities living in Japan, adjusting for age and separately by sex. We estimated standardized mortality rates using both the Japanese population as a reference, and also the population of the home nation of the foreign residents. We found that Korean nationals living in Japan have significantly higher mortality rates than Japanese nationals, and that the suicide mortality rate of Korean nationals living in Japan is higher than in their home country, but that this is not the case for Chinese or other nationals resident in Japan. Koreans living in Japan have a very high risk of mortality due to suicide which may reflect the special social, economic, and cultural pressures they face as a marginalized population in Japan.

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African migrants in Japan: Social capital and economic integration

Cited by 9 publications

References 27 publications

Bifurcated incorporation and migrant social mobility in Japan

Bifurcated incorporation and migrant social mobility in Japan

African presentations and Japanese discourses: the construction and projection of difference

Suicide Mortality in Foreign Residents of Japan

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