Mixed Japanese identities and multiculturalism

Abstract

In this article, we unpack how ideologies of ethnonationalism and multiculturalism in the Australian and Japanese contexts present tensions in self-identity and national belonging for youth of mixed Japanese and Australian background. With the aim of furthering our understanding of multiculturalism and its place in Australia, we investigate the complex ways in which these individuals are positioned in-between such ostensibly antithetical ideologies in their transnational lives to provide unique insight into a little studied community in Australia. To do so, we draw on interview data conducted with youth aged 18 to 25 who live in Australia or Japan and are the child of one ethnically Japanese and non-Japanese parent. Our findings demonstrate that multiculturalism in Australia encourages a sense of belonging and community by attributing meaning towards the ubiquity of ethnic, racial and cultural differences in urban Australian spaces. However, feelings of inclusivity or belongingness which derive from a sense of multiculturalism are often overshadowed by discourses of ethnonationalism, such as ‘whiteness’ or ‘Japaneseness’, which contradict and unsettle their mixed identities as people of Japanese and Australian backgrounds.

Keywords:

• Multiculturalism
• mixed identity
• race
• ethnicity
• belonging
• Australia
• Japan

Acknowledgements

The authors of this paper would like to thank those who volunteered to participate in this study and the editors for their feedback.

Disclosure statement

No potential competing interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Our use of the term ‘Japanese’ here refers primarily to the socially constructed ethnic and/or racial identities of the parent as a ‘majority’ Japanese. Participants were recruited on the criteria of having one Japanese and one non-Japanese parent.

2 Pseudonyms were chosen to reflect the language of participants’ names (e.g., Japanese pseudonyms are used in place of Japanese names). In some cases, pseudonyms reflected names that are transferable between Japanese and English speaking contexts (e.g., ‘Ayaka’ and ‘Aya’, ‘Emily’ and ‘Emi’).

3 Frequency of travel was asked with reference to pre-COVID pandemic times.

4 We raise this as an example of the White Australia Policy and stress that the experiences of immigrants and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples during this period are vastly different. Recent scholarship points to the necessity to consider the postcolonial, historical context of Aboriginal Australians when discussing their position within Australian multiculturalism as First Nations peoples, and not ‘just another ethnic group’ (Kamp et al. 2017, 69).

5 Participants in the survey were asked the following question: ‘Would you say your feelings are positive, negative or neutral towards the following group…’ (Kamp et al. 2017, 72).

Additional information

Funding

This project is supported by the Australian Government Research Training Program (RTP) scholarship administered by The University of Queensland Graduate School.

Notes on contributors

Aoife Wilkinson

Aoife Wilkinson is a PhD candidate at The School of Languages and Cultures, The University of Queensland. As part of her PhD project Aoife is currently researching how mixed Japanese youth living in Australia and Japan interpret and experience discourses of multiculturalism. She has previously published on other topics including citizenship, migration, and identity. Email: [email protected]

David Chapman

David Chapman is Associate Professor and Reader in Japanese Studies at The School of Languages and Cultures, The University of Queensland. David’s research interests include the cultural and social history of the marginalized in Japanese society, human rights in Japan and Asia, citizenship and national identity in Japan and surveillance and the law in Japan. Email: [email protected]