Migrant Labour in Japan

272 Pages·2001·2.02 MB·English

by  Yoko Sellek (auth.)

Migrant Labour in Japan
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Migrant Labour in Japan

Yoko Sellek
Lecturer
School of East Asian Studies
University of Sheffield
© Yoko Sellek 2001
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2001 978-0-333-80432-2
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
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as the author of this work in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2001 by
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Companies and representatives throughout the world
PALGRAVE is the new global academic imprint of
St. Martin’s Press LLC Scholarly and Reference Division and
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ISBN 978-1-349-42226-5 ISBN 978-0-230-28825-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230288256
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and
made from fully managed and sustained forest sources.
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Sellek, Yoko, 1956–
Migrant labour in Japan / Yoko Sellek.
p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-349-42226-5
1. Alien labor—Japan. 2. Social integration—Japan. I. Title.
HD8728.5 .S45 2000
331.6'2'0952—dc21
00–034488
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 01
For Masanori and Tomoko Sakurai
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Contents

Acknowledgements viii
Note on the Text ix
Glossary of Abbreviations x
Introduction 1
1 Historical Context and Evolution of Foreign Migrant
Workers in Contemporary Japan 15
2 Arrival of Foreign Workers through Various
Informal Mechanisms 55
3 Foreign Workers in the Context of Economic Recession 93
4 The Increasing Presence of Foreign Residents in
Japan in the 1990s 120
5 Infrastructural Problems ± Medical Care for Foreign
Residents 140
6 Infrastructural Problems ± Issues Relating to Female
Foreign Workers in Japan 157
7 Marriages Between Japanese Nationals and Foreigners 173
8 Infrastructural Problems ± Provision of Education
for Foreign Children 197
9 Japanese Society and Foreign Residents ± Anti-immigrant
Extremism and Human Rights 208
Conclusion 220
Notes 230
Bibliography 238
Index 256
vii
Acknowledgements

During my work on this book, I have benefited from the advice and
support of many people. It is difficult to single them out but they
include Glenn Hook of the University of Sheffield, for reading the
whole manuscript and providing many useful suggestions, as well as
giving much-needed encouragement. Colin Holmes of the University
of Sheffield, Earl Kinmonth of the University of TaishoÅ, Robert Miles of
the University of Glasgow, and Marie Conte-Helm of the Daiwa Anglo-
Japanese Foundation have read parts of the manuscript and made valu-
able comments. Thanks are also due to my colleagues at the School of
East Asian Studies, the University of Sheffield who put up with my
preoccupation with my task of writing this book. A leave of absence
granted by the School in Autumn 1999 greatly facilitated the comple-
tion of this book.
I am also indebted to the globalization of communication. Without
access to the Nikkei Telecom Database provided by the School and the
Internet, it would have been impossible to collect much of the informa-
tion and useful suggestions from Japanese academia. I am particularly
grateful to Takamichi Kajita of Hitotsubashi University for various intel-
lectual inputs to this work.
Drafts of various parts of the book have benefited from comments at a
number of lectures I have given in Britain including at the Daiwa Anglo-
Japanese Foundation and the Nissan-Institute in Oxford; these presenta-
tions have become the basis of Chapters 4 and 7. Some passages of
Chapters 2and 6 have appeared earlier in Japan Forum as `Female foreign
migrant workers in Japan: working for the Yen', vol. 8, no. 2, 1996,
pp. 159±75, and as `Nikkeijin: the phenomenon of return migration',
in Weiner, M. (ed.), Japan's Minorities (London: Routledge, 1997)
pp. 178±210; they are used by kind permission of Routledge, Taylor &
Francis Ltd., 11 New Fetter Lane, London EC4P 4EE.
I wish to also thank my friends, Kenko Hook, Graham Healey, Rick
Siddle, Philip Charrier, Alison Churchill and Daniel Frey for keeping my
spirits up when flagging, and the nanny of my children, Melanie Sutton,
for performing her job with care and love while I was writing. Finally,
many thanks to my husband Roger, who managed to remain supportive
throughout the entire process, and to my children Akio and Kaya, who
did try to be patient but kept my adrenaline pumping.
viii
Note on the Text

The translation of all material from Japanese to English is my own work
unless otherwise stated. In transliterating Japanese words, I have
adhered to the Hepburn system of Romanization. The transliteration
of Japanese words into Roman text presents no problems other than
long (double) vowels. A macron is used to indicate the long vowels: aÅ,eÅ,
oÅ, and uÅ.
ix