My specialist interests are theories of race and ethnicity, which is a development from my earlier studies on Japanese American ethnicity, pan-Asian ethnicity, and African American community organizations. Leading the collaborative research project on the global study of racial representations has broadened my areas of interest to include not only other fields of the humanities but also genetics and physical anthropology. Whilst interdisciplinary oriented, I have kept my fundamental interest as an anthropologist: to understand human-beings, anthropos, as well as to explore the ways in which ‘differences’ are perceived across cultures from comparative perspectives. Focusing on ‘race’ enables me to pursue these anthropological themes by examining the ways in which people are classified and differentiated. Phone: 0757536915 Address: Institute for Research in Humanities Kyoto University Yoshida-honmachi Kyoto 606-8501 JAPAN
For the benefit of young scholars in both countries, I would like to present one more story follo... more For the benefit of young scholars in both countries, I would like to present one more story following Professor Noriko Ishii, about the experience of a Japanese student studying Japanese Americans in the United States during the 1980s.First, I have to confess that when I embarked on my path as a scholar in the United States, I was rather naïve, with my approach to Japanese American studies being shaped by the cultural baggage I had carried from Japan. After spending my undergraduate years there majoring in comparative culture and cultural anthropology, I had hoped to continue and deepen my studies by focusing on Japanese American acculturation and ethnic identity in an American graduate program. Through the fieldwork, however, I came to realize that such an approach positioned Japanese Americans on a continuum linking the two poles of “American” and “Japanese” culture—precisely the framework critiqued in the introduction to this volume....
A rapidly growing population of multiracial Japanese Americans are often portrayed either as a vi... more A rapidly growing population of multiracial Japanese Americans are often portrayed either as a visual symbol of the disappearing of race or the romanticized “Happy Hapa.” Are there alternative ways that individuals are transcending binary options and resisting stereotypes? In what context, the collective categories of “Japanese American,” “Asian American,” and “hapa” can be mobilized for what purposes? Based on anthropological in-depth interviews, this chapter addresses these questions by examining the works and narratives of three artists with Japanese American background, two of whom have mixed roots: Roger Shimomura, Laura Kina, and Shizu Saldamando. This chapter will illuminate these artists’ individual ways of struggles expressed in artworks to fight against “stereotypes”, including one of rejecting social categories while at the same time resisting racism and white-centered norms.
By taking the examples of translations associated with “race” and “class” used in early Japanese ... more By taking the examples of translations associated with “race” and “class” used in early Japanese American history, this chapter calls attention to the changes of the meaning and associated epistemological transformations through the translation of these terms from Japanese to English. It also provides the historical context in which Japanese American studies developed in Japan and discusses the strength and weakness of the field in Japan and in the United States with focus given to such issues as subject matter, production of knowledge, and socio-political context.
Terms such as “Mongoloid” and “Caucasoid” continue to be reproduced in Japanese high school textb... more Terms such as “Mongoloid” and “Caucasoid” continue to be reproduced in Japanese high school textbooks and encyclopedias with all the intellectual authority that entail. Especially, the term “Mongoloid” has built a type of currency through its use as a catch phrase by experts and its dissemination by various book series and TV documentaries. It is little known, however, that the origin of the term “Caucasoid” traces back to the Old Testament story of Noah”s Ark and that the term “Mongoloid” has discriminatory connotations. In this paper, I will examine the origins and development of these terms, especially focusing on the worldviews of those who initially formulated racial classifi cations in modern science, in an attempt to explore the relationship between terms such as “Caucasoid” and “Mongoloid” in the Japanese and Euro-American contexts. It is not the purpose of this paper to censure the prejudices of those who lived in earlier ages and different social contexts. Rather, I conduct this examination in the belief that it is important for those of us living today to understand the problems associated with the connotations of these terms.
The dominant contention in the sociology of racialization asserts race as a modern Western constr... more The dominant contention in the sociology of racialization asserts race as a modern Western construction. However, we lack studies that juxtapose the experiences in the Trans-Atlantic with the Trans-Pacific. This article, by examining the social conditions experienced by Jews in Spain, the “Gypsies” in Romania, and the Kawaramono in Japan in the Middle Ages, claims that the racialization had already begun before European colonization. It points out a variety of parallel patterns of marginalization and racialization, including but not limited to, “monopolization” of economic activities, an ambiguous relationship with the ruling class, and the discourses of “privileges.” My examination can contribute to understanding global trends of racism and the backlash against minoritized groups associated with the mythical discourses of “privileges” facing us all in the twenty-first century.
This paper will examine the descriptions in geography textbooks of "jinshu, " "minzoku, " "shu, "... more This paper will examine the descriptions in geography textbooks of "jinshu, " "minzoku, " "shu, " and minoritized groups in Imperial Japan during the Meiji Period (1868-1912). The terminology such as "Caucasoid, " "Mongoloid, " and "Negroid, " or "White Race, " "Yellow Race, " and "Black Race, " which are still used in some school textbooks and encyclopedias, was introduced to Japan during the late Edo and the early Meiji periods. The former categories trace their origin to Johan F. Blumenbach, a German anthropologist, and the latter division was invented by Georges Cuvie, a French naturalist.While in the early Meiji period, most descriptions heavily relied on textbooks used in Europe and the United States, as Japan advanced its nation-building and Empire formation, new interpretations and descriptions that positioned Japanese as equally superior as the European Race came to appear in some textbooks. "Jinshu" and "Minzoku" placed a vital role in Japanʼs project to "civilize" itself, its valorization of a "Leave Asia and Join Europe" orientation, and the pursuit of Imperialism both within and outside Japan.
Although it is an almost established understanding in European and North American literature that... more Although it is an almost established understanding in European and North American literature that race is a social construct, the general academic and social discourses surrounding race in Japan remain outside this model. This can be traced back to school textbooks and geography books in the early Meiji period, after these concepts and words were translated and introduced from Europe and the United States. This article will examine passages related to race in textbooks from the first half of the Meiji period, in order to explore the continuities and discontinuities in the state of knowledge production surrounding race and racial discrimination in contemporary Japan. Investigating the usage of words in educational practice allows us to see how ‘race’ was a term that was located in a position different from that of other words, and how the Japanese transformed their racial position in relation to others.
Asian Diasporic Visual Cultures and the Americas, 2020
This article elucidates major transnationalism and minor transnationalism through an analysis of ... more This article elucidates major transnationalism and minor transnationalism through an analysis of works by New York-based Japanese artist Yoko Inoue (b. 1964). Inoue engages in social criticism through varied media such as ceramics, installations, and performance art. Her works demonstrate minor transnationalism observed in the relationships she has built with other transmigrants and minoritized individuals over such issues as xenophobia and racism after 9/11, as well as Hiroshima/Nagasaki and related contemporary nuclear issues. Inoue also addresses the disparities in collective memory and narratives between Japan and the US plus socio-economic inequalities between nation-states and the movement of people/goods/money within Trans-Pacific power dynamics, all of which illustrate major transnationalism in the Trans-Pacific.
For the benefit of young scholars in both countries, I would like to present one more story follo... more For the benefit of young scholars in both countries, I would like to present one more story following Professor Noriko Ishii, about the experience of a Japanese student studying Japanese Americans in the United States during the 1980s.First, I have to confess that when I embarked on my path as a scholar in the United States, I was rather naïve, with my approach to Japanese American studies being shaped by the cultural baggage I had carried from Japan. After spending my undergraduate years there majoring in comparative culture and cultural anthropology, I had hoped to continue and deepen my studies by focusing on Japanese American acculturation and ethnic identity in an American graduate program. Through the fieldwork, however, I came to realize that such an approach positioned Japanese Americans on a continuum linking the two poles of “American” and “Japanese” culture—precisely the framework critiqued in the introduction to this volume....
A rapidly growing population of multiracial Japanese Americans are often portrayed either as a vi... more A rapidly growing population of multiracial Japanese Americans are often portrayed either as a visual symbol of the disappearing of race or the romanticized “Happy Hapa.” Are there alternative ways that individuals are transcending binary options and resisting stereotypes? In what context, the collective categories of “Japanese American,” “Asian American,” and “hapa” can be mobilized for what purposes? Based on anthropological in-depth interviews, this chapter addresses these questions by examining the works and narratives of three artists with Japanese American background, two of whom have mixed roots: Roger Shimomura, Laura Kina, and Shizu Saldamando. This chapter will illuminate these artists’ individual ways of struggles expressed in artworks to fight against “stereotypes”, including one of rejecting social categories while at the same time resisting racism and white-centered norms.
By taking the examples of translations associated with “race” and “class” used in early Japanese ... more By taking the examples of translations associated with “race” and “class” used in early Japanese American history, this chapter calls attention to the changes of the meaning and associated epistemological transformations through the translation of these terms from Japanese to English. It also provides the historical context in which Japanese American studies developed in Japan and discusses the strength and weakness of the field in Japan and in the United States with focus given to such issues as subject matter, production of knowledge, and socio-political context.
Terms such as “Mongoloid” and “Caucasoid” continue to be reproduced in Japanese high school textb... more Terms such as “Mongoloid” and “Caucasoid” continue to be reproduced in Japanese high school textbooks and encyclopedias with all the intellectual authority that entail. Especially, the term “Mongoloid” has built a type of currency through its use as a catch phrase by experts and its dissemination by various book series and TV documentaries. It is little known, however, that the origin of the term “Caucasoid” traces back to the Old Testament story of Noah”s Ark and that the term “Mongoloid” has discriminatory connotations. In this paper, I will examine the origins and development of these terms, especially focusing on the worldviews of those who initially formulated racial classifi cations in modern science, in an attempt to explore the relationship between terms such as “Caucasoid” and “Mongoloid” in the Japanese and Euro-American contexts. It is not the purpose of this paper to censure the prejudices of those who lived in earlier ages and different social contexts. Rather, I conduct this examination in the belief that it is important for those of us living today to understand the problems associated with the connotations of these terms.
The dominant contention in the sociology of racialization asserts race as a modern Western constr... more The dominant contention in the sociology of racialization asserts race as a modern Western construction. However, we lack studies that juxtapose the experiences in the Trans-Atlantic with the Trans-Pacific. This article, by examining the social conditions experienced by Jews in Spain, the “Gypsies” in Romania, and the Kawaramono in Japan in the Middle Ages, claims that the racialization had already begun before European colonization. It points out a variety of parallel patterns of marginalization and racialization, including but not limited to, “monopolization” of economic activities, an ambiguous relationship with the ruling class, and the discourses of “privileges.” My examination can contribute to understanding global trends of racism and the backlash against minoritized groups associated with the mythical discourses of “privileges” facing us all in the twenty-first century.
This paper will examine the descriptions in geography textbooks of "jinshu, " "minzoku, " "shu, "... more This paper will examine the descriptions in geography textbooks of "jinshu, " "minzoku, " "shu, " and minoritized groups in Imperial Japan during the Meiji Period (1868-1912). The terminology such as "Caucasoid, " "Mongoloid, " and "Negroid, " or "White Race, " "Yellow Race, " and "Black Race, " which are still used in some school textbooks and encyclopedias, was introduced to Japan during the late Edo and the early Meiji periods. The former categories trace their origin to Johan F. Blumenbach, a German anthropologist, and the latter division was invented by Georges Cuvie, a French naturalist.While in the early Meiji period, most descriptions heavily relied on textbooks used in Europe and the United States, as Japan advanced its nation-building and Empire formation, new interpretations and descriptions that positioned Japanese as equally superior as the European Race came to appear in some textbooks. "Jinshu" and "Minzoku" placed a vital role in Japanʼs project to "civilize" itself, its valorization of a "Leave Asia and Join Europe" orientation, and the pursuit of Imperialism both within and outside Japan.
Although it is an almost established understanding in European and North American literature that... more Although it is an almost established understanding in European and North American literature that race is a social construct, the general academic and social discourses surrounding race in Japan remain outside this model. This can be traced back to school textbooks and geography books in the early Meiji period, after these concepts and words were translated and introduced from Europe and the United States. This article will examine passages related to race in textbooks from the first half of the Meiji period, in order to explore the continuities and discontinuities in the state of knowledge production surrounding race and racial discrimination in contemporary Japan. Investigating the usage of words in educational practice allows us to see how ‘race’ was a term that was located in a position different from that of other words, and how the Japanese transformed their racial position in relation to others.
Asian Diasporic Visual Cultures and the Americas, 2020
This article elucidates major transnationalism and minor transnationalism through an analysis of ... more This article elucidates major transnationalism and minor transnationalism through an analysis of works by New York-based Japanese artist Yoko Inoue (b. 1964). Inoue engages in social criticism through varied media such as ceramics, installations, and performance art. Her works demonstrate minor transnationalism observed in the relationships she has built with other transmigrants and minoritized individuals over such issues as xenophobia and racism after 9/11, as well as Hiroshima/Nagasaki and related contemporary nuclear issues. Inoue also addresses the disparities in collective memory and narratives between Japan and the US plus socio-economic inequalities between nation-states and the movement of people/goods/money within Trans-Pacific power dynamics, all of which illustrate major transnationalism in the Trans-Pacific.
... the Idea of Race Yasuko T AKEZAWA * II NTRODUCTION Did the idea of race originate in the Unit... more ... the Idea of Race Yasuko T AKEZAWA * II NTRODUCTION Did the idea of race originate in the United States, or is it a universal idea? ...
The most extensive theoretic and empirical studies of people of mixed racial descent extant today... more The most extensive theoretic and empirical studies of people of mixed racial descent extant today have addressed nations across the Atlantic. This article reveals how this literature on people of mixed racial descent is limited in its claims to represent a “global model”. In contrast, we argue that by juxtaposing institutional factors in the Atlantic region and Japan we can expand our understanding of people of mixed racial descent across a far wider range of social and political terrains. A consideration of Japan uncovers a fascinating combination of factors impactful in the emergence of populations of mixed origins in the Pacific region more generally. By identifying this range of variables, we believe this analysis can be instructive for scholars of race focusing on the Atlantic and can contribute to a more encompassing approach for theorizing people of mixed racial descent.
Asian Diasporic Visual Cultures and the Americas, 2020
This article elucidates major transnationalism and minor transnationalism through an analysis of ... more This article elucidates major transnationalism and minor transnationalism through an analysis of works by New York-based Japanese artist Yoko Inoue (b. 1964). Inoue engages in social criticism through varied media such as ceramics, installations, and performance art. Her works demonstrate minor transnationalism observed in the relationships she has built with other transmigrants and minoritized individuals over such issues as xenophobia and racism after 9/11, as well as Hiroshima/Nagasaki and related contemporary nuclear issues. Inoue also addresses the disparities in collective memory and narratives between Japan and the US plus socio-economic inequalities between nation-states and the movement of people/goods/money within Trans-Pacific power dynamics, all of which illustrate major transnationalism in the Trans-Pacific.
Begun as a conversation among scholars of Japanese American studies in Japan and the United State... more Begun as a conversation among scholars of Japanese American studies in Japan and the United States, Transpacific Japanese American Studies is conceived of as an engagement across national archives, literatures, and subject positions to excavate personal investments, epistemologies, and social contexts. Is it possible to achieve a truly equal exchange in a field that defines itself as “Japanese American” studies and in a conversation conducted mainly in the English language? All of the contributors to this volume were asked to consider those foundational questions, and most discussed their subjectivities and work over the course of several years in meetings held in Japan and the US. The outcome, Transpacific Japanese American Studies, is a candid, self-conscious appraisal of scholars and their subject positions and personal and political investments.
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story of Noah”s Ark and that the term “Mongoloid” has discriminatory connotations. In this paper, I will examine the origins and development of these terms, especially focusing on the worldviews of those who initially formulated racial classifi cations in modern science, in an attempt to explore the relationship between terms such as “Caucasoid” and “Mongoloid” in the Japanese and Euro-American contexts. It is not the purpose of this paper to censure the prejudices of those who lived in earlier ages and different social contexts. Rather, I conduct this examination in the belief that it is important for those of us living today to understand the problems associated with the connotations of these terms.
This article, by examining the social conditions experienced by Jews in Spain, the “Gypsies” in Romania, and the Kawaramono in Japan in the Middle Ages, claims that the racialization had already begun before European colonization. It points out a variety of parallel patterns of marginalization and racialization, including but not limited to, “monopolization” of economic activities, an ambiguous relationship with the ruling class, and the discourses of “privileges.”
My examination can contribute to understanding global trends of racism and the backlash against minoritized groups associated with the mythical discourses of “privileges” facing us all in the twenty-first century.
story of Noah”s Ark and that the term “Mongoloid” has discriminatory connotations. In this paper, I will examine the origins and development of these terms, especially focusing on the worldviews of those who initially formulated racial classifi cations in modern science, in an attempt to explore the relationship between terms such as “Caucasoid” and “Mongoloid” in the Japanese and Euro-American contexts. It is not the purpose of this paper to censure the prejudices of those who lived in earlier ages and different social contexts. Rather, I conduct this examination in the belief that it is important for those of us living today to understand the problems associated with the connotations of these terms.
This article, by examining the social conditions experienced by Jews in Spain, the “Gypsies” in Romania, and the Kawaramono in Japan in the Middle Ages, claims that the racialization had already begun before European colonization. It points out a variety of parallel patterns of marginalization and racialization, including but not limited to, “monopolization” of economic activities, an ambiguous relationship with the ruling class, and the discourses of “privileges.”
My examination can contribute to understanding global trends of racism and the backlash against minoritized groups associated with the mythical discourses of “privileges” facing us all in the twenty-first century.