Paper short abstract:

This paper aims to explore various meanings of Japan as a destination and the meanings of migration for contemporary European migrants in Japan. Based on an interview survey, the paper analyzes the rationalization of the migration and subjective identifications of migrants.

Paper long abstract:

This paper aims to explore various meanings of Japan as a destination and meanings of migration for contemporary European migrants to Japan on the backdrop of increasing volume and diversity of this migration. The study will draw on the author's long-term qualitative research on European residents in Japan and an on-going interview survey concerning choices of staying or leaving Japan by European migrants. This survey focuses mainly on middle-class, non-expat Europeans residing mainly in Kansai and Kanto regions.

The paper focus on the question of how is the migration to Japan rationalized by the migrants themselves? First, the aim is to explore the various meanings that Europeans associate with Japan as a migration destination. Whereas culturally motivated migrants - as an alternative to economic motivations - were discussed earlier (Fujita 2009, Debnar 2016), arguably the concept of lifestyle migration (Benson & O'Reilly 2009) provides more flexibility to account for a wider range of meanings and factors (including economic and cultural) for choosing Japan as a destination. Importantly, by analyzing narratives of choosing Japan as well as those regarding reasons to stay (or leave), this paper sees migration as an ongoing project rather than a one-off decision allowing for a more complex and nuanced understanding of the meanings of Japan and migration motivations.

Secondly, what type of mobility do the individual migrants associate themselves with? As argued elsewhere, the middle-class European migrants tend to disassociate themselves from the expatriates (Debnar 2016). However, the combination of positive views of the West and whiteness (e.g., Tanabe 2008) on one hand and negative connotations of the word (im)migration in the case of Japan (e.g., Roberts 2019) on the other, leave the question of self-identification of these Europeans without an easily assumed category. Analysis of the relevant word usage in the general discourse on Japan and their experience as migrants as well as in particular discourse about their understanding of their position as migrants will be conducted.