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THE  CHINESE  IN  MODERN  JAPAN  1:10-­‐4:25  

Kyoto  Consortium  for  Japanese  Studies  Fall  Semester,  2017-­‐18  

Prof.  Timothy  Tsu,  timothy.tsu@gmail.com    

Objectives  It  is  not  often  that  modern  Japan  is  studied  from  the  perspective  of  

immigration,  much  less  from  that  of  Chinese  immigration.    Japan  today  still  tends  to  see  itself—and  is  seen  by  many  foreigners—as  a  mono-­‐racial,  homogeneous  country  that  rejects  immigration  in  both  explicit  and  subtle  ways.    In  fact,  immigration  has  been  an  enduring  feature  of  modern  Japanese  history,  from  the  country’s  “opening”  to  the  West  in  the  mid-­‐nineteenth  century  through  the  Pacific  War  and  the  U.S.  Occupation  to  the  early  twenty-­‐first  century.    Moreover,  Chinese  immigration  has  been  central  to  this  neglected  dimension  of  Japanese  history,  even  though  the  numbers  involved  are  small  compared  to  the  Chinese  diaspora  in  Southeast  Asia  and  North  America.    In  this  course  we  are  going  to  trace  the  history  of  Chinese  immigration  to  Japan  from  the  late  Tokugawa  period  to  the  present  day  with  three  broad  objectives.    First,  we  will  analyze  the  experience  of  Chinese  migrants  in  Japan  from  the  perspectives  of  politics,  economics,  society,  and  culture.    We  will  try  to  understand  how  they  coped  with  the  challenge  of  living  and  working  in  Japan  while  contributing  to—and  in  some  cases  detracting  from—the  host  country’s  economic,  social,  and  cultural  development.    Second,  we  will  seek  a  “lateral  view”  on  modern  Japanese  history  through  the  prism  of  Chinese  immigration  on  such  topics  as  Japan’s  encounter  with  Western  modernity  in  the  treaty  ports,  Japan’s  economic  and  social  penetration  of  colonial  Korea,  Japan’s  economic  expansion  into  colonial  Southeast  Asia,  and  the  evolution  of  Japanese  views  on  such  issues  as  Pan-­‐Asianism,  racial  competition,  and  migration.    Finally,  we  will  also  consider  how  Chinese  immigration  continues  to  impact  Japanese  society—replenishing  the  shrinking  labor  force,  propping  up  the  retailing  and  service  sectors,  and  fueling  nationalist  discontent—in  the  twenty-­‐first  century  when  the  relation  between  Japan  and  China  enters  turbulent,  uncharted  territory.      

This  course  will  appeal  to  students  interested  in  social  and  cultural  history,  Japan-­‐China  relations,  migration,  and  ethnicity.      

   

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Content  &  Organization     This  course  is  divided  into  three  parts.    Part  One  deals  with  the  Tokugawa  background  to  modern  Chinese  immigration  to  Japan  and  the  Meiji  period  in  which  Chinese  played  active,  varied,  and  in  some  cases  instrumental  roles  in  the  treaty  ports  of  Yokohama,  Kobe,  and  Nagasaki.    We  will  place  the  Chinese  migrant  community  in  Japan  in  the  broader  context  of  Chinese  migration  to  Southeast  Asia,  Australia,  Hawaii,  and  North  America  in  the  same  period.    There  will  be  a  half-­‐day  fieldtrip  to  the  Kobe  Municipal  Museum  and  Nankinmachi  Chinatown  and  a  one-­‐day  trip  to  observe  the  Chinese  Yulanpen  Festival  (for  the  benefit  of  ancestral  spirits  and  “orphaned  ghosts”)  over  the  third  weekend  of  September.     Part  Two  deals  with  the  first  half  of  the  twentieth  century  up  to  the  end  of  the  Second  World  War.    The  focus  of  this  portion  of  study  will  be  the  changing  character  of  Chinese  immigration  to  Japan  in  the  context  of  rising  nationalism  among  Chinese  and  Japanese  and  increasing  conflicts  between  the  two  countries.  We  will  pay  attention  to  the  transformation  of  the  Chinatowns  in  Yokohama,  Kobe,  and  Nagasaki  into  tourist  attractions.    This  component  of  the  course  comprises  a  half-­‐day  fieldtrip  to  Osaka’s  Korean  Town  in  Tsuruhashi.    The  purpose  of  this  trip  is  to  obtain  a  comparative  perspective  on  the  merits  and  limitations  of  Chinese  performance  of  identity  through  festivals  and  Chinatown.           Part  Three  covers  the  late  twentieth  century  and  early  twenty-­‐first  century.    We  will  examine  the  contradictory  dynamics  of  Chinese  ethnic  stereotypes  in  late-­‐twentieth-­‐century  Japanese  society.    Drawing  on  recent  sociological  and  anthropological  studies,  we  will  analyze  the  latest  experience  of  Chinese  immigrants  in  a  host  society  that  both  needs  them  and  is  wary  of  not  just  of  their  numbers  but  the  growing  strength  of  their  home  country.    Meanwhile,  through  Chinese  immigration  we  will  gain  a  better  perspective  on  the  political,  economic,  and  social  dilemmas  facing  Japan  today.    There  will  be  a  half-­‐day  fieldtrip  to  the  Chinese  Sunday  market  in  eastern  Osaka  as  an  emerging  and  controversial  “Chinatown”  in  contrast  to  the  traditional  three.      

Format  This  course  comprises  3  half-­‐day  fieldtrips  to  the  Kobe  Municipal  Museum  

&  Nankinmachi  Chinatown,  Osaka  Korean  Town,  and  the  Chinese  market  in  eastern  

   

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Osaka  as  well  as  a  one-­‐day  fieldtrip  to  the  Yulanpen  Festival  at  Manpukuji  in  Uji,  Kyoto.    There  will  also  be  3  presentations  (with  accompanying  short  essays)  by  students  on  groups  and  background  lectures  by  the  course  instructor.      

Requirements     Graded  assignments  include  3  oral  presentations  (10%X3),  3  short  essays  (to  accompany  the  oral  presentations,  10%X3),  and  a  4,000-­‐word  research  paper  (40%)  on  one  of  the  presentation  topics  (or  any  topic  relevant  to  the  course).        

Unit #1 19th-Century Chinese Migration to Japan & the Global

Context  Sept 8 Lecture #1: Explanation of syllabus; The big picture; Reasons for

studying the Chinese in Japan. Sept 15 Fieldwork

Meeting at JR Sannomiya Station at 1:00 Visit: Kobe Municipal Museum神戸市立博物館, Kobe Chinese Museum 神戸華僑博物館 & Kobe Nankinmachi神戸南京町 Read: • *Lee, Erika. 2016. The Making of Asian America: A History,

Chapter 2, Coolies, pp.34-56; and Chapter 3, Chinese immigrants in search of Gold Mountain, pp.59-88. Simon & Schuster.

• Mo, Yimei. Harvest of Endurance: A History of the Chinese in Australia 1788-1988. http://www.multiculturalaustralia.edu.au/doc/yimei_1.pdf

• *Purchell, Victor. 1952. The Chinese in Southeast Asia, pp.xix-xxxvii, 1-10, 31-53.

Sept 22 Lecture #2: The Treaty-Port Chinese Read: • Dower, John. Yokohama Boomtown. http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/yokohama/pdf/yb_essay.pdf

• *Hoare, James E. 1977. The Chinese in the Japanese Treaty Ports 1858–1899: The Unknown Majority. Proceedings of the British Association for Japanese Studies 2(1): 18-33.

• Tsu, T.Y. 2010. Japan’s Yellow Peril: The Chinese in Imperial Japan and Colonial Korea. Japanese Studies 30(2): 161-183. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10371397.2010.485553

Sept 24 (Sun) Fieldwork

Meeting at JR Kyoto Station Visit: Manpuku-ji万福寺, Uji, Kyoto http://www.obakusan.or.jp/gyouji.html (Chinese Yulanpen Festival)

Sept 29 No class

Preparation for Presentation #1 Read: • *Han, Eric. 2014. Expatriate Nationalists and the Politics of Mixed

   

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Residence, 1895–1911. In Rise of a Japanese Chinatown, Chapter 2.

• Kagotani, Naoto. 1996. The Role of Chinese Merchants in the Development of the Japanese Cotton Industry, 1890-1934. Zinbun 30: 149-190. http://repository.kulib.kyoto-u.ac.jp/dspace/handle/2433/48731

Oct 6 Presentation #1 • Discuss the characteristics of the Chinese community in

Bakumatsu and Meiji Japan in the context of the global Chinese migration from 1800 to 1910.

• How did it differ from the movement of Chinese to Southeast Asia, Australia, and the Americas?

• What factors contributed to the differences?

End of Unit #1  

Unit #2 The Transformation of Chinatown, 19th-20th Century  

Oct 20 Lecture #4: Chinese in Early-20th-Century Japan Read: • *Keene, Donald. 1994. Characteristic Responses to Confucianism

in Tokugawa Literature. In Peter Nosco ed., Confucianism and Tokugawa Culture, pp.102-37. Princeton UP.

• *Keene, Donald. 1981. The Sino-Japanese War of 1894-95 and Its Cultural Effects in Japan. In Donald Shively ed. Tradition and Modernization in Japanese Culture, pp.121-75. Princeton UP.

Oct 22 (Sun) Fieldwork

Meeting at JR Osaka Station Visit: Tsuruhashi Korean Town鶴橋コリアンターン

Oct 27 Lecture #5: Postwar Transformation of Chinatown • Tsu, T.Y. 1999. From Ethnic Ghetto to “Gourmet Republic”: The

Changing Image of Kobe’s Chinatown in Modern Japan. Japanese Studies 19(1): 17-23. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/10371399908727664

• *Han, Eric. Cooperation, Conflict, and Modern Life in an International Port, 1912–32. In Rise of a Japanese Chinatown: Yokohama, 1894-1972, pp. 90-123.

Nov 3 No class

Preparation for Presentation #2 • *Han, Eric. 2014. Sino–Japanese War, Sino–Japanese Friendship,

and the Yokohama-ite Identity, 1933–45. In Rise of a Japanese Chinatown: Yokohama, 1894-1972, pp.124-156.

• *Han, E. 2014. A Town Divided: The Cold War in Yokohama Chinatown, 1945–72. In Rise of a Japanese Chinatown: Yokohama, 1894-1972, pp.157-193.

Nov 10

Presentation #2 • Discuss the cultural politics of ethnicity/identity as seen in the

Yulanpen festival at Manpukuji, Kobe Chinatown, and Tsuruhashi Korean Town.

• What are the pros and cons of performing ethnicity through

   

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festivals/foodways/culture? • Do ethnic enclaves such as Chinatown and Korean Town advance

or undermine the interests of immigrant communities?

End of Unit #2  

Unit #3 The Future of Chinese in Japan  

Nov 17 Lecture #6: Late 20th Century Chinese Migration to Japan Read: • Tsu, T.Y.H. 2001. Black Market, Chinatown, Kabukicho: Postwar

Japanese Constructs of Overseas Chinese. Positions 19(1): 133-157. http://positions.dukejournals.org/content/19/1/133.abstract

• *Han, Eric. 2014. Conclusion: Minorities in a Monoethnic State and the Micro-politics of Everyday Life. In Rise of a Japanese Chinatown: Yokohama, 1894-1972, pp.194-220. Harvard Asia Center.

Nov 19 (Sun) Fieldwork

Meeting at Kyōbashi Station Visit: Osaka Chinese Sunday Market

Nov 24 Lecture #7: 21st Century Development Read: • Le Bail, Helene. 2013. Skilled and Unskilled Chinese Migrants in

Japan. Les cahiers d’Ebisu. Occasional Papers 3:3-40. http://www.mfj.gr.jp/publications/_data/e-CahiersEbisu3_pp03-40_LeBail_screen.pdf

• Meng Liang. 2014. “Place making” in Kawakami: Aspirations and Migrant Realities of Chinese “Technical Interns.” Contemporary Japan 26(2): 245-262. http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1515/cj-2014-0012

Dec 1 No class

Preparation for Presentation #3 Read: • Coates, James. 2015. “Unseeing” Chinese Students in Japan:

Understanding Educationally Channeled Migrant Experience. Journal of Current Chinese Affairs 44(3): 125-154. https://journals.sub.uni-hamburg.de/giga/jcca/article/view/883

• *Chung, Erin A. 2010. Destination Japan: Global Shifts, Local Transformations. In Immigration and Citizenship in Japan, pp.144-172. Cambridge UP.

Dec 8 Presentations #3 Read: • *Liu-Farrer, Gracia. 2011. Producing Global Economies from

Below: Migrants’ Transnational Entrepreneurship; & Life Spanned Across Borders. In Labor Migration from China to Japan: International Students, Transnational Migrants, pp.110-124, pp.125-140. Routledge.

Discuss: • What is the future of Chinese migration to Japan? Is migrating to

Japan a “good” choice? What should be the strategy for migrants, Chinese or other nationals, in 21st-century Japan? What should

   

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Japan do with its immigration policy, accept, reject or what? Dec 15 Hand in 4,000-word essay as email attachment.

Suggested topic: One of the three groups of questions in the syllabus.

End of Unit #3  

Suggested  Further  Readings  Unit #1

Choi, Chi-cheung. 1984. The Chinese “Yue Lan” Ghost Festival in Japan: A Kobe

Case Study, Aug. 31-Sept.4, 1982. Journal of the Hong Kong Branch of the Royal

Asiatic Society 24:230-263.

Dower, John. Throwing off Asia II.

http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/throwing_off_asia_02/index.html

Hoare, James. 1994. Japan’s Treaty Ports and Foreign Settlements: The

Uninvited Guests 1858–1899. London: RoutledgeCurzon. Huang, Fu-Ch’ing. 1982.

Chinese Students in Japan in the Late Ch’ing Period. Tokyo: Center for East Asian

Cultural Studies.

Makito, Saya. 2011. The Sino-Japanese War and the Birth of Japanese

Nationalism. Translated by David Noble. Tokyo: International House of Japan.

Perdue, Peter. Rise and fall of the Canton system I.

http://ocw.mit.edu/ans7870/21f/21f.027/rise_fall_canton_01/cw_essay01.html

Unit #2

Yeh, Chiou-Ling. 2004. “In the Traditions of China and in the Freedom of

America”: The Making of San Francisco's Chinese New Year Festivals. American

Quarterly 56(2): 395-420.

Wang, Wei. 2003. Revitalization of Local Community and Ethnicity: Nagasaki’s

Lantern Festival among the Immigrant Chinese. International Journal of Japanese

Sociology 12(1):17-32.

Unit #3

Nyiri, Pal and Saveliev, Igor. 2002. Globalizing Chinese Migration: Trends in

Europe and Asia. Hampshire: Ashgate.

Douglass,  Mike and Roberts, Glenda Susan. 2003. Japan and Global

Migration: Foreign Workers and the Advent of a Multicultural Society. Hawaii UP.