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Japanese Returnees (Kikokushijo) as a Social Category

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Negotiating multiple identities

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Abstract

In exploring the relationship between face and identities and the role of shame and pride in negotiating multiple identities, Japanese returnees (kikokushijo), who spent a considerable amount of time overseas because of their parents’ assignment, were chosen as research participants for two phases of research.

In this chapter, the literature on Japanese returnees is reviewed, and it is explained why returnees and former returnees were chosen as the participants for this study. The four following points are worth noticing: (1) The public image of returnees as ‘having a high English ability’ or as ‘privileged youth’ has been created and perpetuated for over forty years; (2) this image of returnees is related to the relatively strong status of English as an international language; (3) how returnees are considered in society and how they react to the publicly created image as forerunners of ‘globalisation’ is worth analysing; and (4) although scholars have paid attention to returnees at primary or secondary educational level, little study has been done on returnees at universities or former returnees who work in Japanese industry.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Kikokushijo (帰国子女) literally means ‘returned’, ‘boys’ and ‘girls’.

  2. 2.

    Hereafter, kikokushijo will be described as ‘returnees’ most of the time.

  3. 3.

    This journal is written in Japanese and started to be published in 1990.

  4. 4.

    The reason behind this is an increase in research interest in foreign students (Ebuchi, 1994).

  5. 5.

    Japanese schools overseas are not funded by local governments and are fully funded by the Japanese government. While the annual budget for each student in Japan is 450,000 yen, the annual budget for each student overseas is 850,000 yen (Sato, 1997).

  6. 6.

    Although it is considered to be strongly related with ‘internationalisation’, the religious background of a given society will not be discussed in the present study.

  7. 7.

    I created the graph based on the data provided by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (2013).

  8. 8.

    I created the graph based on the data provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (2013).

  9. 9.

    I created the table based on the data provided by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan (2013).

  10. 10.

    I created the table based on e-Stat (2012).

  11. 11.

    I created the graph based on e-Stat (2012).

  12. 12.

    The university is a private Christian school. As Goodman (1990) points out, these Christian schools and universities tend to have a long history of admitting returnees.

  13. 13.

    This certificate is given by the International Baccalaureate Office on the condition that a student completed the required courses designated by the office at his/her international school and passed the IB examination (International Baccalaureate Organization, 2013).

  14. 14.

    The Meiji period lasted from 1868 to 1912 and is often referred to as the period of modernisation in Japan. There was a batch of early teenage girls sent to the USA, and they returned to Japan to contribute to the foundation of girls’ education. Among them, the most famous is Umeko Tsuda, who is the founder of the Tsuda College (Iino, Kameda, & Takahashi, 2000).

  15. 15.

    As of 2001, the Ministry of Education (Monbushoh) was renamed the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Monbukagakusho).

  16. 16.

    The two private schools in Tokyo, Toho Gakuen and Seikei Gakuen, started to accept returnees in 1959 for the first time in Japan, and it was in 1965 when an affiliated junior high school of a national university, Tokyo Gakugei University Ohizumi Junior High School, started to accept returnees (Ebuchi, 1988).

  17. 17.

    The Tokyo Gakugei University is a national university and has a special research organisation for children living overseas and returnees, and its affiliated elementary school, junior high school and high school accept returnees.

  18. 18.

    Globalisation is defined as ‘A process which embodies a transformation in the spatial organization of social relations and transactions-assessed in terms of their extensity, intensity, velocity and impact—generating transcontinental or interregional flows and networks of activity, interaction, and the exercise of power’ (Held, McGrew, Goldblatt, & Perraton, 1999, p. 16). However, since the term ‘globalisation’ still implies ‘Americanisation’ or ‘westernisation’ (Meyer & Geschiere, 1999), it is placed within quotation marks.

  19. 19.

    K. Harris (personal communication, September, 1994). When she taught foreign students English in the USA, she often heard comments like this, and this is just an example.

  20. 20.

    I stay with the notion of cultural nationalism (Yoshino, 1992) although the issue of nationalism has been a big theme in other areas such as political science.

  21. 21.

    A magazine in Japan that is widely read by the intellectuals.

  22. 22.

    A magazine widely read by business people.

  23. 23.

    A weekly magazine with a general readership.

  24. 24.

    Minami (2000) uses the term erosion in association with identity being hard and stiff.

  25. 25.

    Passing means that a member of a minority group acts as if he/she were a member of the mainstream (Goffman, 1963).

  26. 26.

    There may be some returnees who speak another foreign language than English, but through my experience returnees even in non-English-speaking countries are more likely to have learned English than other languages.

  27. 27.

    Except university professors, there are few Japanese females who are assigned to a post overseas. Therefore, ‘parents’ refers to fathers most of the time.

  28. 28.

    Paralanguage is considered a part of nonverbal cues.

  29. 29.

    The original text is Japanese.

  30. 30.

    Ibid.

  31. 31.

    International Christian University High School is a famous first ranking ukeirekoh (receiving returnees) school in Tokyo.

  32. 32.

    The majority of children from Japan’s Royal Family go to the Gakushuhin University.

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  1. Aoyama Gakuin University, Tokyo, Japan

    Kiyoko Sueda

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Sueda, K. (2014). Japanese Returnees (Kikokushijo) as a Social Category. In: Negotiating multiple identities. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-287-008-7_4

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