抄録
Although 'new-comer' foreign residents have increased rapidly since the 1980s, there are few geographical studies about them. Few studies exist that assess the spatial nature of their daily lives. I will intend to deal with their lives through the framework of 'life space' (containing both activity space and social relations). In spite of the large number of 'new-corner' residents in Osaka, they are underrepresented in the literature comparing with those in the Tokyo and Tokai regions. This paper deals with three national groups (Korean, Chinese, and Vietnamese) in Osaka, each of which reflects some distinct features as foreign residents in Japan. It is necessary to study multiple groups because usually a couple of groups live within one urban area. I will discuss their life space with analysis of questionnaires and interviews. Following is a summary of the chief points of this paper. First, some aspects of their life spaces are discussed for each nationality. Although some distinction is identified among nationalities, the indices of life spaces vary much within each group and it is difficult to affirm that their life spaces are prescribed only by nationalities. Second, their life spaces are examined in terms of social attributes factors, which are usually referred to in existing studies. Gender is not an influential factor without the means of transportation for commuting. It is also clarified that, although spatial ranges of social relations of students are wider than those of non-students, activity spaces of the former are narrower than those of the latter and students build fewer social relations. Third, their life spaces are examined through characteristics of residence, which have been not focused on in previous studies. As a result, there are differences between residents in clustered areas of each group and those in non-clustered areas. That is, both activity spaces and spatial ranges of social relations of the former are narrower than those of the latter, and the former has fewer relations with Japanese than the latter. Moreover, comparing the life spaces of residents in the inner city area with those in suburbs, the activity spaces and spatial ranges of social relations of the latter are broader. Finally, I will attempt to determine the meanings of clustered areas through the results of interviews. It is shown that residence in clustered areas has considerable positive and negative effects on relations between 'new-comer' Koreans and 'old-timer' Koreans as well as between Vietnamese and Japanese.
