History and Culture of Japanese Immigration in the New Continent

Organizer:HOSOKAWA Shuhei, Professor

　This group research aims at studying the history and culture of Japanese immigrants and their descendents in South and North Americas. Its principal purpose is filling the gap between the experts of North American and South American immigration by way of discussing the case studies available for each area. We will also consider, when possible, the research on Japanese immigration to other areas, Also, other immigrant communities to the New Continent and the so-called “return migration” of Japanese immigrants back to Japan from South America will help focus the examination of our subject in a wider perspective.
　Japanese immigration to the New Continent (including Hawai’i) began with the dawn of Meiji and played an essential role in Japan’s political, social and cultural modernization until the 1960s. Japanese emigration depended upon the economic and political situation of Japan and the host countries, as well as diplomatic agendas and racial conditions.
　Among numerous themes concerning the study of Japanese immigration, our group will concentrate on the historical and cultural aspects of immigrant communities. The former includes the mid-19th century to the present, whereas the latter refers to habits, life style, ideology, concepts, literature, writing in general, social organization, events, media, language, behavior, performing arts, ceremony, arts, discourses, and other pertinent topics. Culture in this sense is inclusive and heuristic. We will also be concerned with the adaptation and transformation of Japanese culture abroad through its basic agent, the “Nikkei community.” We will argue that this community as the cultural agency functions as producer, mediator, and receiver (receptor).
　The study of Japanese immigration has been initiated and activated by sociologists cooperating with the minority’s political movements. Though admitting their crucial significance, we will rather focus on the life, expression, and emotion of Nikkei groups for enlarging the present scope of research.