ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on how Chinese immigrants make their home in a country where a myth of ethnic homogeneity is incorporated into its national identity. It discusses how Chinese immigrants extract a sense of belonging within the ethno-national society. The chapter also discusses how migration experiences, including their socio-economic circumstances and personal and social relationships, and the dominant narratives of nationhood and ideas of personhood affect their concepts of home and sense of belonging. It focuses on the discussion of the first-generation immigrants. This chapter shows that Chinese immigrants have varied relationships with Japanese society and complex senses of belonging. Student migration into Japan became a strong trend in the mid-1980s. The Industrial Training Program for Non-Japanese was legally established in 1981 for the purposes of 'international transfer of skills, technology and knowledge' and to help train human resources in developing countries. Patterns of international marriages amongst the Chinese and Japanese are diverse.
