1 The Development of Research on New Overseas Chinese and Its Challenges

As globalization quickens, not only information, goods, and money, but also people, have started to move frequently. It is now the case that every country has inseparable ties with other countries. In any country in the world, foreigners can no longer be ignored. This is true not only in countries with open immigration but also in rather closed Asian countries that are now faced with the waves of globalization.

Research into the overseas Chinese in Japan gathered pace in the 1980s, and many research outcomes have been published. Among the best-known Japanese researchers are Nobuo Yamada and Sankichi Yasui and there has also been some research by the Chinese in Japan. For example, research by Chen (1990), Guo (1999), and Wang (2001) has provided detailed analyses of generational changes in overseas Chinese identity and noted that the identity of a different generation has diversified by transforming itself from ethnic identity to national identity, and further to transnational identity. Wang (2001) has conducted a detailed analysis of efforts made by the overseas Chinese in three China towns.

Wang Wei has argued that the new tradition that has been invented is playing a new role in the maintenance of overseas Chinese identity and in integration with Japanese society. These research outcomes have investigated the deep layers of the overseas Chinese society, such as the history of the overseas Chinese in Japan, the trend towards Japanification due to generational change, and changes in identity.

The “overseas Chinese” studied in these preceding studies are the “old overseas Chinese” who had formed overseas Chinese society and who had settled in Japan before the Second World War. They are important in the history of the Chinese in Japan. They have formed an overseas Chinese society with a strong sense of solidarity and mutual support by making efforts generation after generation, and they have made a big contribution to Japanese society.

On the other hand, the number of so-called “new overseas Chinese” who have migrated from China to Japan after the 1980s now far exceeds the number of the “old overseas Chinese.” Given the large number of “new overseas Chinese,” the quantity of studies on them remains small.

Unlike the old overseas Chinese who are concentrated in port cities such as Kobe, Yokohama, and Nagasaki, the new overseas Chinese, numbering more than 700,000, are scattered across Japan. Unlike the occupations of the old overseas Chinese symbolized by “Three swords = Sān bǎ Dāo,” (Scissors, knife, razor) the new overseas Chinese are engaged in a variety of occupations in every field of Japanese society.

According to their immigration status, type of occupation, and lifestyle, the new overseas Chinese can be divided by into six different cultural types: study abroad or ordinary students; teachers and researchers; the blue-collar and white-collar worker type; the managerial type, including the self-employed and entrepreneurs; the international marriage type; and the naturalized type. Holders of different qualifications have different features, and their identities, relationship with Japanese society, and future goals differ based on the individual. There is a need to examine different types of people in depth and systematically.

A significant number of the new overseas Chinese are engaged in professional jobs and teaching. According to statistics, the number engaged in teaching in educational institutions in Japan such as universities exceeds 10,000 and there are more than 21,000 professionals and engineers, and more than 66,000 persons are engaged in humanities/knowledge and/or international operations. The estimated total is about 100,000 persons. In stark contrast to the closed life of the old overseas Chinese, the new overseas Chinese have high levels of academic achievement, broader perspectives and travel regularly between Japan and China. They have also frequently been to countries other than Japan and repeatedly cross the borders between countries and cultures. Against this background, how do they relate to the host society in which they live? What is the state of their identity? The current chapter mainly focuses on the cultural type of those in teaching and in research occupations to find answers to these questions.

2 Research Subjects and Method

The current study limits itself to those who have lived in Japan for more than five years. Furthermore, research subjects were recruited from those who have been teaching at a university or have had a research position in major companies. Both interviews and questionnaires were used in collecting data. Structured interviews were conducted. The survey took place from June to August 2016. Typical interview respondents are described briefly below.

  1. 1.

    Ms. Wang Age: 45

    Length of stay in Japan: 20 years

    Reason for migration to Japan: While studying abroad in Japan, she fell in love with a Japanese man and married. She then resigned from her teaching position in China and settled in Japan. She lives in Japan as the spouse of a Japanese national.

    Family structure: Husband and two children

    Address: Kanto region

    Current occupation: on a fixed-term research contract with a university.

  2. 2.

    Ms. Lee Age: 36

    Length of stay in Japan: 10 years

    Reason for migration to Japan: She came to Japan to work toward a doctorate and took a position at the university where she studied upon obtaining the doctorate. Afterwards, a post became available at a national university, and she moved to that university.

    Family: Husband and two children

    Address: Kyushu region

    Current occupation: University assistant.

  3. 3.

    Mr. Zhang Age: 50

    Length of stay in Japan: 22 years

    Reason for migration to Japan: He came to Japan to work toward a doctorate and then found a post at a Japanese university.

    Family: Wife and two children

    Address: Kansai region

    Current occupation: Assistant professor at a university.

  4. 4.

    Mr. Sun Age: 34

    Length of stay in Japan: 8 years

    Reason for migration to Japan: He came to Japan to work toward a doctorate, obtained the doctorate, and found a post at a university.

    Family: Wife and one child

    Address: Kansai region

    Current occupation: Assistant professor at a university.

Two interviews were conducted with Ms. Wang and one interview with Ms. Lee. Other respondents were asked to write freely on paper instead of doing interviews because they were abroad and therefore unavailable for face-to-face interviews.

Main areas addressed included the role of Japan and China in the respondent’s everyday life, the issue of nationality, future plans, children’s education, relationship with Japanese society, and sociability. I posed questions based on these and let the respondent talk. Below, we analyze the state of their identity and their relationship with Japanese society, based on their narrative.

3 What the Survey Tells Us

3.1 The State of Identity: Japan and China in Life

Ms. Wang, Ms. Lee, Mr. Zhang, and Mr. Sun noted that they make sure to mark Chinese festivals while also experiencing Japanese festivals in their daily lives. In particular, the Chinese New Year and the mid-autumn festival have been important. In Ms. Lee’s home, all Chinese festivals are observed “synchronically” with China. She also has tried to teach the origins and significance of these festivals to her children.

They all used Chinese at home as much as possible. In Ms. Lee’s case, her children have been taught Chinese, and conversation has always been in Chinese. All respondents made their children study Chinese.

3.2 On Nationality

Ms. Wang, Ms. Lee, Mr. Zhang, and Mr. Sun all have Chinese nationality. None were planning to become naturalized in the future. While a Chinese passport can be inconvenient in making a trip to a third country, they wanted to keep their passports.

They have not interfered in where their children will live in the future, whether it will be China or Japan. In terms of nationality, one respondent has left this decision to the children. The rest “want them to live as Chinese” For example, Ms. Wang, a spouse of a Japanese national, reports feeling powerless about her children’s nationality. She has wanted them to have Chinese nationality, but at the moment this is impossible. She, therefore, strongly wants a revision to the Chinese nationality law.

Unlike the diversification of identity in the old overseas Chinese society, the responses of the new overseas Chinese respondents reflect a strong sense of Chinese nationality and a strong sense of belonging to China. Conversely, in daily life they have been influenced by Japanese society and have been becoming more like the Japanese. In particular, their children, the next generation, appear to fit well in Japanese culture. The degree of their integration with Japanese society has appeared to be rather high.

It appears that there has been a contradiction between their behavior in their daily life and their insistence on Chinese nationality in their deep consciousness. In other words, while they are becoming Japanese due to their long stay in Japan, they have not wanted to change their nationality. This is different from the findings of preceding studies about the old overseas Chinese who tended to seek naturalization.

3.3 Relationship with the Host Society

All respondents have been actively involved in community activities. Just like their neighbors, they have been involved in the parent-teacher associations of the primary, junior high, and high schools, as well as sports day and other community activities. In addition, they have been involved, as Chinese, in activities of the Sino–Japanese Friendship Association, including Chinese-language classes, cooking classes, and activities related to international exchange. As foreigners, they have participated in various activities in order to become members of the society they have migrated into. In addition when their “public selves” are on display as teachers, they have done their best in education, research, and communication with students. They assert themselves as researchers in conferences and lectures. If we use their relationship with Japanese society as an indicator, the new overseas Chinese are actively trying to integrate with the community and the host society.

While the new overseas Chinese may have related to the host society in a variety of ways, they differed on the viewpoint of the host, Japanese society. When asked whether they have been accepted in the host society or whether they have experienced unfair treatment, Ms. Wang, Mr. Zhang, and Ms. Lee shared their experiences. Ms. Wang was refused a post when her achievement was as good as others and when she had more advantages. According to her, female foreigners, in particular, Asian female foreigners, have been the most disadvantaged. Mr. Zhang responded that although he had worked for many years, he was still regarded as a foreigner, and that he was not trusted, denied opportunity for promotion, and could never be a leader no matter how much effort he made. Ms. Lee told of her experience of being harassed by the Japanese when speaking Chinese in public. She saw someone who looked annoyed that “there are too many Chinese.” Only one respondent said that s/he was accepted by Japanese society, and others replied that they were treated as “foreigner[s]” and not trusted.

On the other hand, the respondents said they were strongly influenced by Japanese society in terms of daily customs, manners, and daily norms. Many of them saw this as positive. For example, the Lee family has exerted mutual influence with Japanese neighbors. Their Japanese neighbors have often gathered in Ms. Lee’s house and learned about Chinese things, for example, how to make dumplings and how to make nutritious Chinese soup. The number of Chinese aficionados apparently has been increasing.

Given the evidence from their relationships with Japanese society, the new overseas Chinese have been actively trying to integrate with the local community and/or the host society. Conversely, the host society has tried sometimes to exclude them due to their difference as foreigners and sometimes has not accepted their differences.

Young (1990) has pointed out the following four points as norms of a multicultural, global society:

  1. 1.

    Social differentiation without exclusion,

  2. 2.

    Variety,

  3. 3.

    Eroticism,

  4. 4.

    Publicity.

In reference to these four points, there is still a long way to go for Japanese society to be a multicultural society and to achieve co-existence with foreigners including overseas Chinese.

4 On the Future

In considering her future residence, Ms. Wang wanted to move to China or a third country. Ms. Lee’s family had not thought about it yet (it would be decided based on the future situations of the parents and children). Mr. Zhang wanted to move to a third country. Mr. Sun did not know whether he wanted to live in China or Japan yet. The survey results show that for the new overseas Chinese, the Japanese society they have migrated into is neither a temporary residence for the purpose of going home (“fallen leaves returning to the roots”) nor a place to take roots (“to take roots in the place it is fallen”).

Nina Glick-Schiller has proposed a concept of “transmigrant.” As Glick-Schiller has noted, transmigrants are not limited to living in a society where they are accepted as migrants; they may also live in the home country or another society they migrate to at the same time. The respondents’ replies in this research show a similar tendency to that of the “transmigrants” regarding plans for the future.

5 Conclusion and Remaining Challenges

The new overseas Chinese in Japan show very different characteristics from the old overseas Chinese society regarding daily life, work, and relationships with Japanese society. While the old overseas Chinese live in concentrated areas, have a closed society, and are engaged in a limited range of occupations, the new overseas Chinese are scattered across Japan, open to Japanese society, and are engaged in a variety of occupations. Moreover, Identity for the old overseas Chinese has diversified as generations change. However, the new overseas Chinese have insisted on Chinese nationality, while their lifestyle reflects little Chinese orientation.

This study has focused on the case of one cultural type of the new overseas Chinese (teachers and researchers), and, therefore, the analysis is limited to these cases. The study has shown that although they are integrating within Japanese culture, they do not intend to naturalize in Japan. The study has also clearly highlighted a new characteristic of the new overseas Chinese: while they have maintained a strong sense of belonging to the culture of their mother country, they do not necessarily want to go back home.

Many questions remain to be answered. These include: How can we make sense of the characteristics of the new overseas Chinese? What is the experience of new overseas Chinese of other cultural types and different classes and occupations? Is this tendency of identifying strongly with their mother country but not wishing to return shared with Chinese migrants in other countries?

Japanese society is trying to create a “multicultural and co-existing” society. The idea of multicultural co-existence cannot be discussed when migrants from all over the world, including overseas Chinese in Japan, are excluded. Whether the “co-existence” of Japanese with foreigners in Japan, including the new overseas Chinese, can be realized or not must depend on the degree to which the host Japanese society can accept difference.

Is a multicultural society possible in Japan? Let us look at Kobe’s experience. Kobe has one of the three major Chinatowns in Japan, “Nankinmachi,” which is very well known in Japan. It has been recently identified several times as a successful example of “multicultural co-existence.” The key to the success of Nankinmachi is the “Nankinmachi Shopping District Promotion Association.” The membership of the association is about equally divided between the overseas Chinese and Japanese. Sometimes, more Japanese appear to be involved. The Japanese and overseas Chinese of Nankinmachi support each other, are dependent on each other, reciprocate with each other, and compete with each other, which drives the development of Nankinmachi.

The overseas Chinese of Nankinmachi are involved in the activities not as “foreigners” but as locals or “protagonists.” The “Chinese atmosphere” of Nankinmachi illustrates the multicultural nature of Kobe, an international city. At the same time, Nankinmachi provides a venue for cultural exchange and economic exchange between Japan and China. The “Chinatown” in Kobe, with its “Chinese atmosphere,” has managed to succeed once cooperation between the overseas Chinese and Japanese citizens was in place. As such, Kobe should be highly regarded as a successful example of a “multicultural and coexisting society” in Japan.