Abstract
Regardless of its English translation “overseas Chinese,” this research note tackles the term “Kakyō,” by analysing the narratives of Chinese and Taiwanese residents in post-war Japan to re-examine the shifting categorisations and labels of “Kakyō.” These shifting categorisations and labels of the so-called “Kakyō” are manifestly flimsy and incoherent in the pre-existing academic writings or works, when it comes to associations supporting the Taiwanese authorities or the peoples from Taiwan. This is because the researchers or writers tend to use “Kakyō” to refer to the Taiwanese people they coped with despite the recent growth of “Taiwanese identity” or the changing recognition of Taiwan’s independence. Undoubtedly, there is an increase of the researches that reposition Taiwan. However, to proclaim that these researches have shared a similar recognition under the Japanese context is far from being satisfactory, and it has turned out to be a convolution. Hence, being conscious of this convolution, this research note is an attempt to retrieve the narratives of “Kakyō,” especially by looking at how Taiwanese residents have been represented as varied categorisations and labels of “Kakyō” in post-war Japan.
