Abstract
Among numerous studies on the formation of ethnic districts, several have tried to clarify such a process in terms of the influx of financial capital and its contribution to land transfers made by ethnic groups. Based on these perspectives, this paper analyzes the practical ways in which Koreans in Japan purchased lands with a focus on the following four aspects: sources of financial capital, changes in built environment, causes of migration, and relation to the existing residents. Data were collected from Shin-Imazato, Ikuno Ward, Osaka City, where the Japanese-style entertainment districts known as Hanamachi flourished in the past. The findings of this study can be summarized as follows. First, the ethnic district in the study area apparently originated in the 1970s when several Korean-style entertainment restaurants appeared. After the 1980s in particular, the deteriorating situation in Hanamachi gradually motivated existing residents to sell their properties to“ old-timer” Korean inhabitants, resulting in the construction of residential apartments and buildings for nightclubs. Second, this change in built environment enabled the concentration of Korean-style nightclubs managed by newly-arrived Koreans and subsequently caused the emergence of an ethnic landscape after the 1990s. At the same time, these businesses altered the type of customers visiting this area, and pressured old Hanamachi business owners to sell their properties. Third, with respect to the spatial distribution of Korean landowners, the majority were located in the residential concentration of “old-timer” Korean residents adjacent to the study area. Moreover, in the process of land transfers, a certain number of landlords depended on ethnic networks for searching the available properties for sale and utilized funds offered by ethnic banks. However“, old-timer” Koreans had no direct relationship with the establishment of such nightclubs except for the demand for such entertainment services; newly-arrived Koreans prepared funds independently and brought workers from Korea based on networks formed in their homeland. In summary, this study shows that the transformation to an ethnic district can be explained by several factors. Before the concentration of nightclubs in the 1990s, a Korean-style entertainment space that relied on“ old-timer” Korean residents within their residential concentration already existed as its customers. The emergence of buildings for nightclubs also helped to establish nightclubs that depended on such customers. Moreover, the existence of apartments helped entrepreneurs of such clubs to recruit workers from Korea and accommodate them in the study area. Consequently, these factors generated the spatial overlap of home and workplaces of newly-arrived Koreans. Therefore, this result should not be regarded as a natural process. Rather, such a spatial pattern is formed through practices related to existing residents, the“ old-timer” Koreans, new arrivals that appeared during the process of land transfers, and the alteration of built environments.
