Lolita Fashion Culture, marked by its girlishness, has gained much popularity in both Japan and China. In the Japanese context, girlishness can be defined as the inclination to resist the progression towards maturity, resulting in perpetuation of the state of girlhood, a period characterized by temporary exemption from heterosexual hegemony. In contrast, within the Chinese context, girlhood is dominated by the school system’s notable emphasis on examination-oriented learning, which is set up based on male-centric standards. It results in the absence of girlhood. The primary aim of this research is to investigate the unique characteristics of girlishness applicable to Lolita Fashion Culture in China, with a particular focus on Chinese girlhood and the associated gender dynamics. Data was collected from life story interviews with 16 adult women aiming to understand how they perceive girlishness in Lolita Fashion Culture.

The present study has yielded the subsequent findings. There is a double bind on the female body in secondary schools in China. The dominant male-centric bias has led to marginalization of feminine physicality. Meanwhile, the prevalence of commercial culture compels girls to conform to societal standards of physical beauty. Following girlhood, there is a societal expectation for women to reveal an attractive female body, and a significant number of women actively strive to embody this expectation, which is considered to be a means of compensating for the absence of girlhood. The previous discussion on girlhood establishes a context for understanding the girlishness in Chinese Lolita Fashion Culture. Girlishness can be interpreted as a strategic approach to contest the dominant male-centric notion of competence and to reclaim femininity. Simultaneously, it involves an engagement with societal norms surrounding feminine aesthetics.

In recent years, welfare support for people who have experienced “hikikomori” (social withdrawal) has become an important social issue, and attention is being paid to solving problems at the hometown level for people experiencing this condition. However, not all of them wish to live in their hometowns or in areas where they have family. Accordingly, this study focusses on such people’s perceived consequences of the migration experience. The research question is as follows: What were hikikomori people’s motivations for migration and the circumstances before and after the migration?

Since September 2020, the author has conducted semi-structured interviews and participant observation at a shared house with users of a non-profit organization that provides support to people who have experienced hikikomori and those in need. Data included interview transcripts and fieldnotes from September 2020 to December 2023.

Three specific findings from this study differ from those of previous studies: (1) the possibility of contact with people who were the subject of real-time interactions associated with the hikikomori experience was related to uncomfortableness in the local community; (2) due to the differences in the local area before and after migration, the lack of anonymity in the destination area was not considered a serious problem, posing no obstacles to migrant life; and (3) in the case of migration by people experiencing hikikomori, the avoidance of local and family networks was a function of, rather than a motivation for, migration.

Based on these findings, this study suggests that it is necessary to reconsider some people with hikikomori as those with potential mobility needs.

Until the 1980s, discussions of the ethnicity of Zainichi Koreans centered on ideological arguments based on the subjective experiences of those involved. In contrast, early sociological studies of Zainichi Koreans sketched a spectrum from assimilation to dissimilation (external pluralism) and the complex cooperative relationships between ethnic groups in the region. Subsequently, attempts were made to re-examine the polarized formation of assimilation and dissimilation, to focus on transnationality to overcome methodological nationalism, to move toward reintegrating the complexities of the “outside” world into the perspective of research studies, and to redefine “ethnicity” as a realistic experience.

Many research findings have emerged in recent years on the state of transnational migration and ways of recognition. However, most of these studies have focused solely on “transnational” factors, or have otherwise overemphasized “global and local connections,” rather than addressing the question of how Zainichi Koreans perceive the current state of their homeland and ethnicity.

Instead, this paper proposes the view in which Zainichi Koreans’ migration to their “home country” is considered “return migration,” including migration for reasons such as travel, training, and visits to relatives. This approach to the above-mentioned question is an attempt to confront this issue without reverting to methodological nationalism.

Sociological research on Korean women in Japan has examined the complexity of structural oppression at the intersection of nationality, gender, class, etc., and the agency formed in this context. The analytical category of Korean women in Japan is used to explore the mechanisms through which racial ethnicity, gender, class, nationality, and sexuality interact. It is also a category of movement by which Korean women as minority women have contended with compounded discrimination. Examining the empirical studies on Korean women in Japan, this paper brings up the three major points; intersectional structures of oppression, colonial patriarchy, and care-based community activism.

This paper is based on reflections on research that I have carried out in the last two decades on nationalism and discrimination in contemporary Japan. In particular, it aims to clarify how identity politics of Zainichi Koreans have been passed on to subsequent generations based on case studies in Kawasaki. While the two major Korean ethnic organizations have played predominant roles in identity politics of Zainichi Koreans in postwar Japan, the identity politics of Zainichi Koreans in Kawasaki have been based on the Kawasaki Zainichi Korean church and its local community since the 1970s. It started as a grassroot practice and eventually collaborated with the local government, providing a foundation of today’s multicultural policy in Japan. However, collaboration with the local government also caused conflicts and divisions among members of the community. Meanwhile, this community became a target of racial discrimination amid the rise of exclusionary discourses and practices since mid-2000s. In this social and historical context, this paper attempts to illuminate how the former identity politics are inherited by members of the community today. It first overviews the social and historical context of identity politics led by Yi Inha, the former minister in charge of the Kawasaki Zainichi Korean church. Secondly, it looks at how those practices have been formative to the cultural practices against racism among the next generation by focusing on a Zainichi Korean rapper, Funi, and other church members. Overall, this paper investigates transitions from the identity politics to post-identity politics of Zainichi Koreans and what they are facing under today’s political conditions.