Abstract
Where and what is home? What defines a home? The relationship of home to belongingness is tied to notions of identity and one’s perception vis-à-vis the Other. Border-crossings and migrations contribute to changes in one’s consciousness of a home, since the point of origin and/or the place of destination may or may not be home, as home may be either one place or both places at the same time, or nowhere at all. Home may also point to several “homes”. For the Nisei, notions of home are shaped by socio-cultural and historical contexts, as well as emotional ties to family and kin. However, in some cases, the homeland may not be as welcoming to the return migrant, and home becomes an unfamiliar place.
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Notes
- 1.
In my interviews with Nisei residing in Metro Manila in 2003, and in Okinawa in 2007 and 2010, both groups reported incidences of discrimination from the locals. However, I also found out that discriminatory behaviour among the locals, particularly in the Philippines, varied according to the Nisei’s geographic location (i.e. region) and the period/year of birth (i.e. Filipinos’ discrimination towards the Japanese was more intense in the immediate post-war years than in the late 1960s).
- 2.
The requirement to adopt a Japanese name has been removed with the 1985 amendment to the Nationality Act. However, it was said that the Ministry of Justice “recommended” that applicants adopt Japanese names. This unofficial policy has been enforced at the local level (See Chung 2010: 20).
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Zulueta, J.O. (2020). “Home Is where the Heart Is?” An Invisible Minority. In: Transnational Identities on Okinawa’s Military Bases. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9787-6_7
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