Paper short abstract:

The second generation of Brazilians and Peruvians, who have gone on higher education in Japan have access to different public services, which in turn partially provides them with other types of well-being such as emotional, moral, psychological and physical well-being.

Paper long abstract:

It has been over three decades since the establishment of a legal framework that allowed immigrants of Japanese descent or Nikkeijin to come to Japan, most of them to work at Japanese factories. The vast majority of whom are South Americans, mainly from Brazil and Peru. The initial temporariness of this immigration has turned into a permanent residence of first, second and third generations of Brazilians and Peruvians, concentrated particularly in some specific areas in Japan.

Being born and raised in Japan, the second generation differently from the first possesses more skills and competences that grant them more freedom to conduct their lives not only in Japan, but also in their parents’ home country, therefore they could be true agents of their own destiny, in either country. As agency is an important source for well-being, the second generation by being better equipped to thrive in Japanese society reaches higher levels of well-being than their first-generation parents. They speak Japanese, they attend Japanese public schools and institutes of higher education, they have access to different public services, and they can engage in jobs as any other Japanese of similar age. However, the second generation faces other challenges and restrictions that cannot allow them to have access to rights and privileges guaranteed by the Japanese constitution and laws, as long as they do not acquire Japanese citizenship. While economic well-being is at the center of the first-generation decisions, the second generation has more leeway to find other sources of well-being, which are thought to be important for producing their sense of agency.

The current paper responds to the need of counting on a research on the different sources of well-being for second-generation Brazilians and Peruvians, who have gone on higher education in Japan. Besides, the access to public services, such as education, health and housing, among others, this paper explores the association between these sources of material well-being with other types of well-being such as emotional, moral, psychological and physical well-being.