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European Migration to Japan: Historical Roots and Recent Development

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Migration, Whiteness, and Cosmopolitanism

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Abstract

Debnár starts with outlining the history of European migration to Japan and focuses on its contemporary growth since the late 1980s. He points out that despite such historical legacy, relatively high numbers, and contemporary growth which has exceeded the overall growth rate of foreign population in Japan, the case of European or other Western migration to Japan has been largely overlooked. Despite popular beliefs, media representations, and often seen assumptions, his analysis of the statistics demonstrates that contemporary migration from Europe to Japan cannot be understood in terms of dichotomy of high-skilled professionals from the West and female entertainers from some of the ex-Soviet republics. This chapter also problematizes high-skilled migration and emphasizes the importance of other patterns, such as international marriages and student migration.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, Doshisha University, Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan

    Miloš Debnár

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  1. Miloš Debnár
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Debnár, M. (2016). European Migration to Japan: Historical Roots and Recent Development. In: Migration, Whiteness, and Cosmopolitanism. Palgrave Macmillan, New York. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56149-7_2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-56149-7_2

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