Japan and Global Migration: Foreign Workers and the Advent of a Multicultural Society

The global age of migration is fast becoming a permanent feature of Japanese life, impacting the country’s economic, social, and political landscape. The twelve essays collected here bring together the most up-to-date, original research on foreign workers and households from a variety of perspectives. Throughout, three key questions are addressed: Does the recent wave of migration constitute a new multicultural age that challenges Japan’s identity as a homogenous society? How do foreign workers confront the many difficulties of living in Japan? How is Japanese society both resisting and accommodating the growing presence of foreign workers in its communities? Japan and Global Migration is a much-needed and timely contribution to the literature on Japan and cultural difference and required reading for anyone concerned with the future of Japanese society.

Contributors: Mike Douglass, John Lie, Takashi Machimura, Stephen Murphy-Shigematsu, Katherine Tegtmeyer Pak, David Pollack, Glenda S. Roberts, Katsuko Terasawa, Michael Weiner, Keiko Yamanaka, Keizo Yamawaki.

• Mike Douglass, Editor

• Glenda S. Roberts, Editor

  Glenda S. Roberts is professor and director of international studies at Waseda University (Japan).