Jane H. Yamashiro is a sociologist whose comparative and transnational work on race and ethnicity, culture, globalization, migration, diaspora, and identity sits at the intersection of Asian American and Asian Studies. She has previously been a Visiting Scholar at USC's Center for Japanese Religions and Culture and the UCLA Asian American Studies Center, and has previously taught at Loyola Marymount University and Patten University at San Quentin. She holds a B.A. from the University of California at San Diego and M.A. and Ph.D. degrees from the University of Hawai‘i at Manoa. While conducting research in Japan, Dr. Yamashiro has been funded by the East-West Center and the Crown Prince Akihito Scholarship, and has been a visiting researcher at the University of Tokyo and Sophia University. Her academic research has been published in Ethnic and Racial Studies; AAPI Nexus: Asian Americans & Pacific Islanders Policy, Practice and Community; Sociology Compass; Geoforum; CR: The New Centennial Review; and Migrations and Identities. Dr. Yamashiro's first book, Redefining Japaneseness: Japanese Americans in the Ancestral Homeland, was published in 2017 with Rutgers University Press. She is currently researching Okinawan identity on the US continent.
There is a rich body of literature on the experience of Japanese immigrants in the United States,... more There is a rich body of literature on the experience of Japanese immigrants in the United States, and there are also numerous accounts of the cultural dislocation felt by American expats in Japan. But what happens when Japanese Americans, born and raised in the United States, are the ones living abroad in Japan?
Redefining Japaneseness chronicles how Japanese American migrants to Japan navigate and complicate the categories of Japanese and “foreigner.” Drawing from extensive interviews and fieldwork in the Tokyo area, Jane H. Yamashiro tracks the multiple ways these migrants strategically negotiate and interpret their daily interactions. Following a diverse group of subjects—some of only Japanese ancestry and others of mixed heritage, some fluent in Japanese and others struggling with the language, some from Hawaii and others from the US continent—her study reveals wide variations in how Japanese Americans perceive both Japaneseness and Americanness.
Making an important contribution to both Asian American studies and scholarship on transnational migration, Redefining Japaneseness critically interrogates the common assumption that people of Japanese ancestry identify as members of a global diaspora. Furthermore, through its close examination of subjects who migrate from one highly-industrialized nation to another, it dramatically expands our picture of the migrant experience.
The terms “diaspora” and “diaspora strategies” are both used in inconsistent, and often, conflict... more The terms “diaspora” and “diaspora strategies” are both used in inconsistent, and often, conflicting ways. Who encompasses “the diaspora” and what are “diaspora strategies”? What roles do ethnicity and affinity play in conceptualizing relationships between diasporas and homeland governments? This paper extrapolates from programs and organizations that link overseas coethnic and former resident non-coethnic populations to Japan to offer clarity and consistency in usage by bringing together concepts not typically put in conversation with each other and introducing new terms that conceptualize more specific aspects of who we are referring to as “diaspora” and what we are referring to as “diaspora strategies”. Conceptualizations of diaspora often gloss over internal differences, including whether or not people deemed members of a diaspora actually demonstrate a homeland orientation. Focusing on the difference between ethnicity-based and affinity-based definitions of diaspora, I distinguish between three types of diaspora strategies: “diaspora-connecting”, “diaspora-cultivating”, and “diaspora-creating strategies”. Finally, as a way to discuss the potential contributions of both overseas coethnic and non-coethnic populations to a given nation, I conclude by considering Joseph Nye’s notion of “soft power” in relation to diaspora strategies. By engaging these concepts together, the paper highlights the tensions between considering ethnicity and affinity as factors for deciding who to target for diaspora strategies, and demonstrates how diaspora strategies can also target non-coethnics
This article introduces sociologists and others interested in race and the social construction of... more This article introduces sociologists and others interested in race and the social construction of minorities to the case of Japan. The construction of race in Japan conflates race, ethnicity, language, culture, class, and citizenship. As a result, the majority ‘‘Japanese’’ are constructed against ‘‘foreigners,’’ both categories implying the aforementioned characteristics. Minorities in Japan lack some or all of the aforementioned traits: most are seen as racially different from Japanese but some are marginalized in other ways that support hierarchical social organization. After reviewing scholarship that analyzes the meaning of race in Japan, I briefly describe the major minority groups: Ainu, Okinawans, Burakumin, ethnic Koreans, foreign workers, Japanese Brazilians and mixed race Japanese.
AAPI Nexus Journal: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Policy, Practice and Community
Asian ethnic return migration policies are having an important impact on the lives of Asian Ameri... more Asian ethnic return migration policies are having an important impact on the lives of Asian Americans. By making it easier for later generation Asian Americans to work and invest in their ancestral homelands, these policies have affected the scale of Asian American migration and their economic, cultural, and social connections to Asia. However, ethnic return migration policies and their effects are not uniform across all Asian American groups.
This paper analyzes how Asian Americans are being affected by ethnic return migration policies through comparative examination of the Immigration Control Act in Japan and the Overseas Korean Act in South Korea. The two policies in Japan and South Korea (hereafter Korea) are similar in their initial targeting of ethnic return migrants and in their privileging of skilled workers and investors in the 2000s to increase each country’s competitiveness in the global economy. However, while Korea’s policy has cast a net to include Korean Americans specifically, Japan’s ethnic return migration policy has not been aimed at Japanese Americans in the same way.
This article examines Japanese Americans in Japan to illuminate how 'Japanese American' - an ethn... more This article examines Japanese Americans in Japan to illuminate how 'Japanese American' - an ethnic minority identity in the US - is reconstructed in Japan as a racialized national identity. Based on fifty interviews with American citizens of Japanese ancestry conducted between 2004 and 2007, I demonstrate how interactions with Japanese in Japan shape Japanese Americans' racial and national understandings of themselves. After laying out a theoretical framework for understanding the shifting intersection of race, ethnicity, and nationality, I explore the interactive process of racial categorization and ethnic identity assertion for Japanese American transnationals in Japan. This process leads to what I call racialized national identities - the intersection of racial and national identities in an international context - and suggests that US racial minority identities are constructed not only within the US, but abroad as well.
JAMsj NEWS: A Quarterly Newsletter of the Japanese American Museum of San Jose
Summary of February 7, 2015 panel at Japanese American Museum of San Jose (JAMsj) on "Fighting fo... more Summary of February 7, 2015 panel at Japanese American Museum of San Jose (JAMsj) on "Fighting for the Emperor: Japanese Americans in the WWII Imperial Armed Forces" for the JAMsj newsletter
I didn't write this magazine article in French, but was interviewed for it and cited in the discu... more I didn't write this magazine article in French, but was interviewed for it and cited in the discussion about Japaneseness in Japan and in relation to overseas Japanese communities.
Leleu, Clémence. 2021. "Japonité Et Mythe De L'homogénéité." Tempura 8:56-61
... Learn more... ProQuest, When the diaspora returns: Transnational racial and ethnic identityfo... more ... Learn more... ProQuest, When the diaspora returns: Transnational racial and ethnic identityformation among Japanese Americans in global Tokyo. by Yamashiro, Jane Hisa, Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I AT MANOA, 2008, 296 pages; 3326464. Abstract: ...
There is a rich body of literature on the experience of Japanese immigrants in the United States,... more There is a rich body of literature on the experience of Japanese immigrants in the United States, and there are also numerous accounts of the cultural dislocation felt by American expats in Japan. But what happens when Japanese Americans, born and raised in the United States, are the ones living abroad in Japan?
Redefining Japaneseness chronicles how Japanese American migrants to Japan navigate and complicate the categories of Japanese and “foreigner.” Drawing from extensive interviews and fieldwork in the Tokyo area, Jane H. Yamashiro tracks the multiple ways these migrants strategically negotiate and interpret their daily interactions. Following a diverse group of subjects—some of only Japanese ancestry and others of mixed heritage, some fluent in Japanese and others struggling with the language, some from Hawaii and others from the US continent—her study reveals wide variations in how Japanese Americans perceive both Japaneseness and Americanness.
Making an important contribution to both Asian American studies and scholarship on transnational migration, Redefining Japaneseness critically interrogates the common assumption that people of Japanese ancestry identify as members of a global diaspora. Furthermore, through its close examination of subjects who migrate from one highly-industrialized nation to another, it dramatically expands our picture of the migrant experience.
The terms “diaspora” and “diaspora strategies” are both used in inconsistent, and often, conflict... more The terms “diaspora” and “diaspora strategies” are both used in inconsistent, and often, conflicting ways. Who encompasses “the diaspora” and what are “diaspora strategies”? What roles do ethnicity and affinity play in conceptualizing relationships between diasporas and homeland governments? This paper extrapolates from programs and organizations that link overseas coethnic and former resident non-coethnic populations to Japan to offer clarity and consistency in usage by bringing together concepts not typically put in conversation with each other and introducing new terms that conceptualize more specific aspects of who we are referring to as “diaspora” and what we are referring to as “diaspora strategies”. Conceptualizations of diaspora often gloss over internal differences, including whether or not people deemed members of a diaspora actually demonstrate a homeland orientation. Focusing on the difference between ethnicity-based and affinity-based definitions of diaspora, I distinguish between three types of diaspora strategies: “diaspora-connecting”, “diaspora-cultivating”, and “diaspora-creating strategies”. Finally, as a way to discuss the potential contributions of both overseas coethnic and non-coethnic populations to a given nation, I conclude by considering Joseph Nye’s notion of “soft power” in relation to diaspora strategies. By engaging these concepts together, the paper highlights the tensions between considering ethnicity and affinity as factors for deciding who to target for diaspora strategies, and demonstrates how diaspora strategies can also target non-coethnics
This article introduces sociologists and others interested in race and the social construction of... more This article introduces sociologists and others interested in race and the social construction of minorities to the case of Japan. The construction of race in Japan conflates race, ethnicity, language, culture, class, and citizenship. As a result, the majority ‘‘Japanese’’ are constructed against ‘‘foreigners,’’ both categories implying the aforementioned characteristics. Minorities in Japan lack some or all of the aforementioned traits: most are seen as racially different from Japanese but some are marginalized in other ways that support hierarchical social organization. After reviewing scholarship that analyzes the meaning of race in Japan, I briefly describe the major minority groups: Ainu, Okinawans, Burakumin, ethnic Koreans, foreign workers, Japanese Brazilians and mixed race Japanese.
AAPI Nexus Journal: Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders Policy, Practice and Community
Asian ethnic return migration policies are having an important impact on the lives of Asian Ameri... more Asian ethnic return migration policies are having an important impact on the lives of Asian Americans. By making it easier for later generation Asian Americans to work and invest in their ancestral homelands, these policies have affected the scale of Asian American migration and their economic, cultural, and social connections to Asia. However, ethnic return migration policies and their effects are not uniform across all Asian American groups.
This paper analyzes how Asian Americans are being affected by ethnic return migration policies through comparative examination of the Immigration Control Act in Japan and the Overseas Korean Act in South Korea. The two policies in Japan and South Korea (hereafter Korea) are similar in their initial targeting of ethnic return migrants and in their privileging of skilled workers and investors in the 2000s to increase each country’s competitiveness in the global economy. However, while Korea’s policy has cast a net to include Korean Americans specifically, Japan’s ethnic return migration policy has not been aimed at Japanese Americans in the same way.
This article examines Japanese Americans in Japan to illuminate how 'Japanese American' - an ethn... more This article examines Japanese Americans in Japan to illuminate how 'Japanese American' - an ethnic minority identity in the US - is reconstructed in Japan as a racialized national identity. Based on fifty interviews with American citizens of Japanese ancestry conducted between 2004 and 2007, I demonstrate how interactions with Japanese in Japan shape Japanese Americans' racial and national understandings of themselves. After laying out a theoretical framework for understanding the shifting intersection of race, ethnicity, and nationality, I explore the interactive process of racial categorization and ethnic identity assertion for Japanese American transnationals in Japan. This process leads to what I call racialized national identities - the intersection of racial and national identities in an international context - and suggests that US racial minority identities are constructed not only within the US, but abroad as well.
JAMsj NEWS: A Quarterly Newsletter of the Japanese American Museum of San Jose
Summary of February 7, 2015 panel at Japanese American Museum of San Jose (JAMsj) on "Fighting fo... more Summary of February 7, 2015 panel at Japanese American Museum of San Jose (JAMsj) on "Fighting for the Emperor: Japanese Americans in the WWII Imperial Armed Forces" for the JAMsj newsletter
I didn't write this magazine article in French, but was interviewed for it and cited in the discu... more I didn't write this magazine article in French, but was interviewed for it and cited in the discussion about Japaneseness in Japan and in relation to overseas Japanese communities.
Leleu, Clémence. 2021. "Japonité Et Mythe De L'homogénéité." Tempura 8:56-61
... Learn more... ProQuest, When the diaspora returns: Transnational racial and ethnic identityfo... more ... Learn more... ProQuest, When the diaspora returns: Transnational racial and ethnic identityformation among Japanese Americans in global Tokyo. by Yamashiro, Jane Hisa, Ph.D., UNIVERSITY OF HAWAI'I AT MANOA, 2008, 296 pages; 3326464. Abstract: ...
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Redefining Japaneseness chronicles how Japanese American migrants to Japan navigate and complicate the categories of Japanese and “foreigner.” Drawing from extensive interviews and fieldwork in the Tokyo area, Jane H. Yamashiro tracks the multiple ways these migrants strategically negotiate and interpret their daily interactions. Following a diverse group of subjects—some of only Japanese ancestry and others of mixed heritage, some fluent in Japanese and others struggling with the language, some from Hawaii and others from the US continent—her study reveals wide variations in how Japanese Americans perceive both Japaneseness and Americanness.
Making an important contribution to both Asian American studies and scholarship on transnational migration, Redefining Japaneseness critically interrogates the common assumption that people of Japanese ancestry identify as members of a global diaspora. Furthermore, through its close examination of subjects who migrate from one highly-industrialized nation to another, it dramatically expands our picture of the migrant experience.
Check out the website https://redefiningjapaneseness.com
Like the book on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/redefiningjapaneseness/
Watch a short interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0u43MQWZAg
See a book talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGC3D9M6GUk&feature=youtu.be
This paper analyzes how Asian Americans are being affected by ethnic return migration policies through comparative examination of the Immigration Control Act in Japan and the Overseas Korean Act in South Korea. The two policies in Japan and South Korea (hereafter Korea) are similar in their initial targeting of ethnic return migrants and in their privileging of skilled workers and investors in the 2000s to increase each country’s competitiveness in the global economy. However, while Korea’s policy has cast a net to include Korean Americans specifically, Japan’s ethnic return migration policy has not been aimed at Japanese Americans in the same way.
Leleu, Clémence. 2021. "Japonité Et Mythe De L'homogénéité." Tempura 8:56-61
Redefining Japaneseness chronicles how Japanese American migrants to Japan navigate and complicate the categories of Japanese and “foreigner.” Drawing from extensive interviews and fieldwork in the Tokyo area, Jane H. Yamashiro tracks the multiple ways these migrants strategically negotiate and interpret their daily interactions. Following a diverse group of subjects—some of only Japanese ancestry and others of mixed heritage, some fluent in Japanese and others struggling with the language, some from Hawaii and others from the US continent—her study reveals wide variations in how Japanese Americans perceive both Japaneseness and Americanness.
Making an important contribution to both Asian American studies and scholarship on transnational migration, Redefining Japaneseness critically interrogates the common assumption that people of Japanese ancestry identify as members of a global diaspora. Furthermore, through its close examination of subjects who migrate from one highly-industrialized nation to another, it dramatically expands our picture of the migrant experience.
Check out the website https://redefiningjapaneseness.com
Like the book on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/redefiningjapaneseness/
Watch a short interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0u43MQWZAg
See a book talk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CGC3D9M6GUk&feature=youtu.be
This paper analyzes how Asian Americans are being affected by ethnic return migration policies through comparative examination of the Immigration Control Act in Japan and the Overseas Korean Act in South Korea. The two policies in Japan and South Korea (hereafter Korea) are similar in their initial targeting of ethnic return migrants and in their privileging of skilled workers and investors in the 2000s to increase each country’s competitiveness in the global economy. However, while Korea’s policy has cast a net to include Korean Americans specifically, Japan’s ethnic return migration policy has not been aimed at Japanese Americans in the same way.
Leleu, Clémence. 2021. "Japonité Et Mythe De L'homogénéité." Tempura 8:56-61