A dichotomous view of essentialism and constructionism is gaining ground in the Intercultural Education Society of Japan. However, this view makes it difficult to understand the experiences and practices that are important in the lives of border-crossing youths. In order to suggest perspectives to overcome this problem, this study aims to depict the process of imagining/creating diverse “Japan” by border-crossing youths, approaching their lived experiences.
Specifically, based on a seven-year ethnographic study of three Shin-Nisei (second-generation post-war Japanese immigrants) youths raised in Guam, this study examines how they experience Japan, what kind of “Japan” they imagine/create, and what it means for their lives.
Revealed in this study was that the Shin-Nisei youths, connected and torn by multiple societies, kept imagining/creating various types of “Japan” in their temporal and spatial mobility in order to better their lives. They negotiated structural and institutional constraints and historical contexts in multiple societies, such as Guam (U.S.A.) and the Japanese community in Guam, Tokyo, and Okinawa, while imagining/creating various “Japan.”
Finally, based on the findings of this study, the perspectives on understanding “Japan” for border-crossing youths are discussed. These are that we should not immediately criticize essentialist events or seek answers to constructivist ideas, and attention should be paid to the possibility that re-imagined/re-created “Japan” may lead to the creation of new divisions and boundaries.
