Identity Formation of Foreign Residents: A Study of Individuals in Middle to Late Adulthood in Hokkaido, Japan

An increasing number of people are relocating to foreign countries due in part to the influence of globalization, internationalization, and enhanced vocational opportunities abroad.By 2025, the workforce is expected to be the first generation of workers anticipated to live overseas due to improved employment opportunities and ease of travel (HR Grapevine, 2013).This increase will affect the lives of a large number of adult workers who reside in an Asian context such as Japan.This qualitative collective case study includes interviews with eight foreign participants from what is commonly referred to as "Western" countries who have lived in Hokkaido, Japan for five or more years.This study describes the identity formation and/or development process of these participants, who range in age from thirty-one to seventy-seven years old, and the influence this cultural context has on their adult identity development.This research applied the prevalent Japanese discourse of Nihonjinron and the cultural belief of the binary of uchi and soto to determine how and to what extent foreigners are accepted into Japanese society and/or culture.In addition, acculturation theories such as Sam & Berry's Acculturation Strategies and Benet-Martínez & Haritatos (2005) Bicultural Identity Integration (BII) were implemented to indicate the individual changes to the identity of each participant due to their time in Japan.The results of this research suggest that Japan pushes foreigners and outside elements away from its culture and society, but it also requires them to reinforce Japanese identity.This dynamic resulted in participants often feeling between Japanese culture and their own respective culture while some defended their culture of origin.Alternatively, other participants changed in order to interact with Japanese society and enjoy the benefits of living in Japan. CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTIONThis qualitative study explores the experiences and identity formation of eight adult participants, between the ages of thirty-one to seventy-seven, from 'Western' countries who have resided in Japan for five or more years.A case study approach was implemented to ascertain the level of acceptance of foreigners by Japanese society as well as the acculturation of participants through several questions relating to each participant's extended residency in Japan.The questions of this research include individual participant's impressions of Japan, involvement in Japanese culture, their identity in Japan, connections to Japanese society, employment, home country, and their use of technology.The prominent discourse in Japan, called Nihonjinron, is compared to Sam & Berry's (2006) acculturation categories, Benet-Martínez & Haritatos (2005) Bicultural Identity Integration (BII), and Erikson's Adult Stages of Development to assess the level of acculturation of each participant in Japan, and how well these participants can be accepted into Japanese society and/or culture. Justification of the StudyThis study focuses on individuals from 'Western' countries such as the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, New Zealand, and other countries in Europe who have relocated to Japan.These individuals relocated to Japan for a variety of reasons including employment and academic study.There is an increasing number of people who have relocated to different countries, and this number is thought to increase as globalization increases.Robertson & Gaggiotti (2007) state, "globalization is driving a more international economy and a more mobile workforce" (p.209).As of 2010, approximately 214 million people (or three percent of the world's population) had relocated and lived outside their home country, and only 10.5 million of these people were refugees (Migration, 2010).This number is expected to rise as the next 3.How do participants define, construct, and live a meaningful life (via family, profession, and socially) in the Japanese context? 4. Using the definition of identity as a process of an individual or actor's actions within the Japanese cultural context via socialization, how does an individual's actions reflect Japanese cultural practices? Organization of ChaptersThis thesis is divided into six chapters.The first chapter includes the introduction, justification of the study, and the organization of the thesis.Chapter II reviews pertinent research on relevant literature related to the focus of the study.This chapter first establishes the legitimacy of Japanese cultural ideas and discourse through Nihonjinron writing, and then examines the impact of this discourse as it pertains to foreigners' experiences in Japan.Next, identity theories and acculturation theories are described to impart a rich and expansive foundation of relevant knowledge that will interact with sequential chapters.Chapter III explains the methodology implemented in this qualitative study.This chapter begins with a description of the case study approach and its advantages in this research.This chapter then describes the recruitment of participants, the research procedure, its compliance with the Humans Subjects Review Board (HSRB), the data collection process via semistructured interviews, the credibility and validity of this study, and the codes developed from the interviews with participants.This chapter concludes with a brief description of the limitations of this study and the statement of researcher bias.Chapter IV organizes the codes developed in the previous chapter and places them into two overarching themes.This chapter commences with a basic description of each of the participants involved in this study for context.The first theme develops, explores, and 2002, p. 319).The search for a Japanese 'soul' would eventually be a reaction to the same Westernization that Japan had wanted to participate in to become modern (Lie, 2001).Yoshino (1992) describes two sub-varieties of Nihonjinron during the post-WWII era.One variety describes Nihonjinron as a "rescuer of Japanese identity threatened by Westernization" while the second variety provides a cultural explanation of Japan's economic success (Yoshino, 1992, p. 195).Regardless of what ideologies Japan manufactured before the end of WWII, there are many similarities between modern and pre-war Nihonjinron.Nihonjinron has been prone to important changes but it still remains a strong force in Japan and it is thought to be an even stronger force in postwar Japan (Befu, 2001;Burgess, 2004).Nihonjinron thought also maintains that the success of Japan is due to it being comprised of racially/ethnically Japanese people. Japanese Nationalism, Race, and EthnicityNihonjinron thought believes that being Japanese can only be achieved by being genetically Japanese through blood.As a result, it is pertinent to examine the notion of being Japanese through Nihonjinron thought.Nationalism, race, and ethnicity present an intricate relationship in Japanese self identity and these terms are usually considered one and the same as there is no clear criteria to differentiate who belongs to which nationality, race, or ethnicity in Japan (Lie, 2001).Nihonjinron literature often includes the term tan'itsu minzoku, which refers to racial, ethnic, and national homogeneity.This term speaks of the "homogeneity of the Japanese" people without specifying whether one is referring to their racial or cultural features (Yoshino, 1992, p. 25).Davies & Ikeno (2002) have stated that Japanese society has an affinity and tolerance for ambiguity to the extent that "it is considered by many to be characteristic of Japanese culture" (p.9).Because of this acceptance of ambiguity, the terminology of race,

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