The Role of Residential Properties in Japan's Ethnic Minority Communities

Within the context of an increasingly globalized world, there has been a significant growth in the number of overseas migrants in Japan, leading to a rise in ethnic minority communities. While migrants to Japan initially came... [ view full abstract ]

Within the context of an increasingly globalized world, there has been a significant growth in the number of overseas migrants in Japan, leading to a rise in ethnic minority communities. While migrants to Japan initially came to work as temporary labourers, in recent decades, they have increasingly chosen to permanently settle in the country. The development of migrant communities has attracted other overseas migrants, which makes Japan a magnet for new immigrants. Although Japan’s restrictive immigration policies have limited the number of immigrants to the country up until now, the government is beginning to examine the possibility of opening up the nation to immigration in response to its shrinking population and an associated decline in the labour force. In the context of these changes, it is important to examine how Japan mightsuccessfully support newcomers in the future. This paper specifically focuseson the role that the accumulation of residential properties over generations plays in underpinning the creation and maintenance of ethnic minority communities. There has been a growing body of literature concerning ethnic minority neighbourhoods in terms of labour market participation, social and economic inequalities, and segregation and discrimination, among others. However, research on the role of property ownership in the sustainability of ethnic minority communities is relatively underdeveloped. In this paper, we address the following three particular questions: First, how did first generation immigrants purchase their residential properties? Second, how did the next generation manage the residential properties they inherited from their parents? Third, how have housing properties played a role in sustaining ethnic minority communities over generations? This paper draws on in-depth interviews with immigrant property owners in the Kitano district, where immigrants mainly from India and China have maintained their own communities over generations since the opening of Kobe port in 1868.