The purpose of this paper is to explore the factors involved in the development of citizenship among immigrant women in Japan. To clarify the issue, a semi-structured interview was employed. I interviewed 10 immigrant women who were introduced to me by SINAPIS, the Social Action Center of the Catholic Archdiocese of Osaka. From these interviews, I found two main important factors which play an effective role in the development of their citizenship. The first is social activities or paid work in the local community, which encourages positive participation in the public sphere; the second is the church, school and NPO as an intermediate organization and human network, which supports their activities and creates their social capital day by day, enhancing their self-esteem. Also, it was revealed that learning the host country's language facilitated the development of their citizenship.

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With the merits and demerits of multiculturalization of societies becoming increasingly obvious today, it is the right time to re-examine the concept of multiculturalism, which so far has been accepted uncritically. In this paper I focus on the relationship between culture and its surroundings, rather than culture itself—in other words, the significance of examining culture in the context of relationships rather than substantialism is proposed here—to examine the meaning and potential of the concept of 'relationship' from both theoretical and phenomenological perspectives. The discussion is conducted using two models to represent these perspectives: the postcolonial theory proposed by Bhabha for the theoretical perspective and the practice of handing down memories of the Battle of Okinawa for the phenomenological perspective. In conducting the examination based on these perspectives, the key point is to understand culture as a moving entity that keeps changing its position over cultural borders but is intrinsically diverse itself, and to focus on the movements in the gaps or 'inter' between cultures, which are created as a result of shifts in cultural recognition but which also function as places that accommodate diversity. Finally, through this analysis, I suggest that Multicultural Relations can be positioned as a study to explore human activities responsible for social change and the creation of the future.

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This study aims to explore the characteristics of North Korean migrants' acculturation into South Korea by conducting seven in-depth interviews with North Korean migrants residing in South Korea. Interview participants were recruited through a regional North Korean migrant support center (Hana Center) in South Korea during October and November of 2011. Findings show that their acculturation has some distinct differences from traditional transnational migrants, in that they share the same language and ethnic background. They often displayed modified acculturation strategies from Berry's (1997) assimilation, integration, marginalization, and separation strategies. Also, a more forward-looking perspective, based on a unified Korea in the future, was frequently found among the migrants. These distinctive characteristics, however, do not mean that they perceived their adaptation as an easier task. Rather, they considered it difficult and their acculturation stress was easily doubled and the process became complicated due to their unique situation stemming from the relationship between the North and South. Ideological residues in South Korean society often cause difficulties, too. These North Korean migrants thus tended to look beyond dichotomous perspectives (South vs. North Korean, first vs. second class citizens).

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In recent years, increased attention has been paid to memory as a source of public discourse. Particularly, construction of national memories by states has been explored and discussed by researchers from different disciplines. This is because numerous nations have engaged in the process of reconstruction of their narratives about the past.
Within this context, the present study seeks to explore the ways in which the 'historians' dispute' (Historikerstreit) influenced public memory in West Germany. German memory of the Holocaust went trough a transformation from a negative memory to a widely-accepted public memory. However, this transformation took place amid vehement debates involving historians, politicians, intellectuals and citizens.
Using the Multicultural Relations' approach, the study looks into various aspects of historical revisionism that came to the surface during the dispute and examines the mediating role that the view of communication plays in German public discourse.

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In order to identify the cross-cultural adjustment process in foreign nurses and health care workers in Japan, an analysis based on a three-layered structural model was performed and semi-structured interviews were conducted. Factors promoting and inhibiting adjustment were identified. The results suggest that adjustment among foreign workers in their development as health care professionals follows from the lower to the upper layer of the structural model. Focusing on sociocultural adjustment, including workplace adjustment, it was found out that supporting and paying attention to cultural elements were effective. Furthermore, suggestions for supporting cross cultural adaptation were explored.

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Four major research aspects, namely (1) educational content, (2) motivation and satisfaction, (3) wellness (flourishing, resilience and grit), and (4) satisfaction in career development, were examined. Based on an internet-based questionnaire survey of Japanese and international alumni in a domestic university in the western part of Japan, relations among them were statistically analyzed. In this research, the building of an appropriate hypothesis was highlighted, rather than rigorous hypothesis testing. The results showed that international alumni appreciated educational content more positively, had higher resilience and grit, and showed higher satisfaction in career development after their graduation. Based on these results, some suggestions were made regarding effective multicultural education strategies and career development for Japanese and international university students.

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The purpose of the present research is to explore the effects of the relationship among relational mobility, cultural self-construal, and group-representation (common identity group-representation and common bond group-representation) on self-effacement toward in-group members. The Japanese interpersonal communication competence was added in this investigation as a mediating variable. A path analysis based on the structural equation modeling was conducted. Among particularly notable results, relational mobility had a negative effect on common bond group-representation via interdependent-self and had a direct positive path on common bond group-representation; it also directly had a negative path on self-effacement. Additionally, having a common bond group-representation inhibited the expression of self-effacement, contrastively facilitated self-restraint, and had a positive effect on self-effacement.

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The purpose of this study is to clarify the functions of two Japanese mediators who belong to Bangladesh NGO E, by referring to the "Intercultural Mediatory Power" (Matsuda, 2013). This power contributes to achieving its purpose by connecting several intercultural organizations or groups. One of the Japanese mediators spent a year as an intern for NGO・E and took field notes when a five-day tour was arranged for Japanese NPO・S by NGO・E. In this study, the field notes were used as data and analyzed using the KJ Method. As a result, 19 categories were extracted and discussed in terms of Intercultural Mediatory Power. The findings imply the orientation of Intercultural Mediatory Power.

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In this paper, I analyze the process underwent by individual members of an NGO organization managed by Zainichi in order for them to become leading members of the organization. Also, I examine the process of overcoming conflicts arising from differences in intention amongst members. I also explain the relation between their experiences at the NGO and their future outlook. I conducted interviews with subjects who were leading members of KEY.
The results of these interviews clarified the following points: (a) The eagerness of participation in KEY's activities differs according to the degree of motivation; (b) Regular members assigned new roles by leading members are encouraged to become leading members, but there are cases where the knowledge and experiences gained through this process have positive effects while also temporarily bringing about negative effects; (c) The gap between the intentions of the individuals and the group prompts reconsideration of intentions by the individuals and breeds conflict, but on the other hand this kind of gap creates opportunity for revitalization and reform in the organization, as well as acquisition of new points of view; and (d) Regarding the prospects of the participants, it was evident that the subjects make their prospects on the basis of their current way of living.

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