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Paper short abstract:

This paper explores Japan's process of finding ways to live with ethnic diversity. Residents who find hopelessness in the government's multicultural policy attempt to transform their community into networks of residents to aspire to an ordinary but steady base of inclusive social disposition.

Paper long abstract:

This paper explores Japan's process of finding ways to live with ethnic diversity. The recent appropriation of Korean cultural artefacts and consumption of Koreanness in Japan harnessed Japanese society with new vocabularies of diversity-friendly social dialogues among long-term multigenerational Korean and Japanese residents. While the Japanese government initially raised the multicultural awareness in communities, the state's opaque goals and unclear definitions of residents' roles partially alienated residents. The state's rhetoric is perceived to attract low-skilled foreign labour with temporary working visas and the authorities seem reluctant to promote equal rights and opportunities for long-term foreign residents. Among the sentiments of hopelessness, there are developments among citizens and residents who attempt to revitalise Japan's aspired future with diversity by connecting among fellow community members (see Kavedzija 2016) by emphasising on the ordinary everyday aspects of lives. I argue that such attempts to focus on "the ordinary" are a reaction to the extraordinary and abstract multicultural ideology that is imposed by the authorities. For some community members, the concept of "others among us" (Burgess 2012) that holds onto the homogeneity as the base of national identity (Weiner 2009) is gradually transforming into the idea of "our ordinary inclusive community". An increasing number of initiatives try to focus on the "ordinary" and everyday facets of lives such as preparing and sharing food, chatting, raising children, watching films, and enjoying creative activities through music and dance. In contrast to the government's anticipation to receive an increasing number of migrant workers while trying to maintain communities' social order, residents believe that activities that call for ordinary qualities provide a steadier and more spontaneous community base rather than the multicultural initiatives executed by the government. Based on my ethnographic data and interview material, I demonstrate how the frontline of multicultural contacts aspires to transform the homogeneous Japan into a society that accommodates diversity.