take back the night” • mit cool japan workshop • paper ...fc84/lecture_slides... · • mit...

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• “Take Back the Night”• MIT Cool Japan workshop• Paper guidelines

• Article from Marie Clare

Aging population (2000)

Japanese life expectancy (2002)

Male = 78

Female = 85

Foreign population

• 23 wards of Tokyo = 8.34 million (2003)• Registered foreign population = 354,000

(2003)

• Small percentage; clearly NOT multicultural population

• But extremely high-profile

Localization(s) of foreign population

• Roppongi/Azabu -- Euro-Americans (and multicultural nightlife!!!)

• Ogikubo -- Korea• Ikebukuro -- China• Ueno -- Middle East

Ethnic minorities• Koreans (zainichi kankokujin)• Okinawans• Ainu• Outcastes• Euro-Americans• Chinese• Nikkeijin (diaspora Japanese, mainly from

Latin America)• SE Asians & other foreign workers (Middle

East, Africa)

Internal vs. external minorities

• Internal/permanent -- Koreans, outcastes, Chinese, Okinawans, and Ainu

• External/temporary (???) -- Chinese, Southeast Asians, Euro-Americans

• Both categories defy cultural categories of Japanese identity -- what does it mean to be Japanese?

Internal minorities

• Okinawans -- colonized by Japan in 1870s

• Ainu -- indigenous people of Hokkaido

• Outcastes -- discussed previously, traditionally stigmatized groups considered outside society -- hereditary occupations include leather working, handling the dead, various forms of low-status entertainers

Foreigners in Japan (2003)total 1.85 million (approx. 1.5% of population)

Regional distribution (2003)

Tokyo -- 18%

Osaka -- 11%

Nagoya -- 9%

Yokohama -- 8%

Kobe -- 5%

Koreans

• Primarily in Osaka and Western Japan, but sizeable population in Tokyo

• Legacy of colonial period

• Citizenship issues & discrimination

Chinese

• Three waves of immigration• 1) Treaty ports (19th century) --

Nagasaki, Kobe, Yokohama• 2) Taiwanese from Japanese colonial

period• 3) recent migrants (many quasi-legal)

Euro-Americans

• Generally accorded higher status• Relatively few permanent residents• Government, big business, academics,

language teachers, classical Japanese interests (Zen, tea ceremony)

• Also large contingent of US military forces (so-called SOFA status)

• Highly publicized crimes by US personnel are frequent problem

Latin American Nikkeijin• Massive Japanese migration to Latin America

(esp. Brazil, Peru) as well as Canada, US, Mexico, and Dominican Republic in late 19th/early 20th century

• “return” migration for work, from 1980s onward

• Currently approximately 250,000 Nikkeijin in Japan

• Difficulties of assimilation• Asakusa “Carnival”

“Gaikokujin mondai”

• The foreigners problem

• Sex trafficking• Crime rates attributed to “Chinese

gangs”

Crime problem

• Tokyo’s governor, Ishihara Shintaro --outspoken critic of foreigners, especially Chinese

• Draws on traditional images of Japanese ethnic homogeneity (purity?) which echoes popular sentiments

Labor migration & “youth problem”

During affluent decades, growth of jobs that young Japanese did not want

So-called “3-K” jobsKiken - dangerousKitsui - toughKurai -- darkKane ga nai -- low paidKusai -- smelly

Migration and Labor

Japanese labor markets require more workers than Japanese willing to work

Who/what to blame?Low-birth ratesWomen not given full opportunities in labor

marketsFreeters and others who opt out of regular

employment

Growing economic inequality

• Confluence of “youth” problems, “old people” problems, and “foreigners”problem

• New York Times article Sunday April 16

Land and economy

• One major source of growing economic stratification is the result of land scarcity and booming real estate prices in the 1980s and early 1990s

• The haves and the have nots

Tatami (area of space)

• Tokyo standard 1.8 x .9 meters• Two tatami mats = 1 tsubo (standard

land measurement)

Tatami

Tatami

Land prices

Residential, Tokyo metro area1988 -- 494,700 yen per square meter1990 -- 514,2001994 -- 322,8002000 -- 232,4002005 -- 193,500

Land prices and speculation

• Bubble economy

• Jiageya & jishinbaibai

• Hollowing out of many residential neighborhoods

Building boom

• Major luxury complexes being built in central city

• “High rise” social stratification• Further depressing value of land in

suburbs and zones not undergoing redevelopment