Paper short abstract:

With the rapid increase of Nepalese immigrants in Japan, they form various organizations (ranging from self-help groups at grassroots to ethnicity-based national networks) in Japan. This paper analyzes their roles for the members as well as their relations with Japanese civil societies.

Paper long abstract:

In June 2016, Nepalese immigrants' population in Japan reached 60,689, the sixth largest and fastest growing migrant community in Japan. With this background, various Nepalese migrants' organizations are being formed to respond to their diverse needs. They can be categorized into five. The first is the branches of existing organizations of Nepal such as the chapters of political parties. The second is attribute-based associations, such as Nepalese students. The third is origin-based organizations formed by people migrated from the same localities of Nepal. The fourth is caste or ethnicity-based organizations. The last is self-help organizations formed by migrants residing in the same areas of Japan.

This paper analyzes these organizations in the following four aspects: 1) how they support Nepalese migrants, 2) how they promote integration of Nepalese migrants with Japanese host communities, 3) how they contribute to their places of origin of Nepal (not only in terms of money such as donation for the earthquake survivors, but also "social remittance" to their own societies, and 4) who are leading the organizations? Then, the paper further analyses how these organizations bridge, or not bridge, the gaps between their places of origin of Nepal and the host communities of Japan.

Finally, as a conclusion, the paper argues that these organizations, so far, has had little contribution to the integration of the Nepalese migrants into Japanese societies because their scopes are mostly limited within Nepalese communities but not linked with civil societies or local authorities of Japan.