ABSTRACT
While immigration is now a classic topic in sociology, only relatively recently have scholars started paying serious attention to the importance of networks to an understanding of the lives of immigrants. This chapter responds to the call for more research on both negative and positive aspects of migrant networks. Alejandro Portes wrote, "Immigration happens not simply between random rich and poor countries. A common motivation behind the migration is usually a pursuit of a better life and opportunity, but the large influx of immigration was usually triggered by a deliberate or some non-deliberate efforts between the countries who share some historical, political or economic relationship in the past". There is another tale to be told about trust networks in postwar Japan. Trust networks among Koreans in Japan played a critical role during a time in which Koreans experienced numerous structural barriers. Korean immigrants were severely marginalized during the colonial period.
