ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the consequences of nostalgic sentimentality from those participating on cultural exchange. Positive engagement with our nostalgic imagination can be found in our encounters of unfamiliar places and people. By dissecting the reflections of those on the Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) programme, we can observe the transition of individual sentiment and imagination for a place over time. The portrayal of Japan shifted over the course of the 1980s to the 2010s. For the participants, Japan is initially an imaginary place, that then transforms into the mundane over the course of their experiences, leading back to a nostalgia that becomes transmigratory over distance of time and place. This process has been effective for enhancing Japanese interests abroad through these individuals through the effects of globalisation. Through the lens of everyday life theory this chapter exhibits how these shifts emerge through the participants dialogues, becoming receivers and contributors of knowledge on Japan. The study demonstrates how the particular can make an impact upon the overall transmission of society and culture abroad. This research found that nostalgia buffered the development of negative conclusions, changed participants’ viewpoints over time resulting in a transmigratory nostalgia.
