The Japanese government has been making a concerted effort to develop globally minded citizens capable of performing overseas through initiatives such as Tobitate Japan ‘Leap for Tomorrow,’ which encourages young Japanese to study abroad. Other measures (e.g. ‘Top Global University Japan’) have been introduced to increase in-bound international students and improve the international competitiveness of Japanese universities. Furthermore, an aging population has led Japan to increasingly look abroad for workers, resulting in 1.08 million foreigners now working in Japan (Ministry of Health, Labour, and Welfare http://www.mhlw.go.jp/stf/houdou/0000148933.html). The idea of multicultural workplaces has generally been associated with large companies in metropolitan areas, but they are becoming increasingly common among small and medium sized companies in regional areas, too. How ready is Japan for this internationalisation of its domestic workforce?
Taking a social constructionist approach (e.g. Ochs 1993), the proposed colloquium addresses this question by empirically examining the present situation in Japanese workplaces in respect to the recruitment and socialisation of new recruits and the integration of foreign workers. It is argued that traditional ideologies associated with becoming a shakaijin, or contributing member of society, often conflict with those of internationalisation, which can then lead to struggles (e.g. van de Mieroop & Schnurr 2017) in the reconciliation of ideology and practices in the workplace. The papers in this colloquium explore such struggles from three perspectives: 1) The struggles of converting the ideologies of internationalisation into workplace practice; 2) The struggles faced by foreign workers as they attempt to both assimilate in Japanese workplaces and maintain a professional identity; and 3) The struggles of prospective employees (i.e. job hunters) as they attempt to reconcile preconceived notions of internationalisation with actual workplace practices. By qualitatively analysing naturally occurring data, this thematic session will contribute new understandings of the struggles Japanese workplaces and workers face as they attempt to adapt in this new climate of internationalisation.
Ochs, Elinor. 1993. Constructing social identity: a language socialization perspective. Research on Language and Social Interaction 26, 287-306. van de Mieroop, Dorien & Stephanie Schnurr. 2017. Identity Struggles : Evidence from workplaces around the world. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
