Migrants from Tokyo to NYC and London – Tokyo Event

This presentation came over H-Japan and may be of interest to Transpacifica readers in Tokyo.

The 17th TransAsian Cultural Studies Seminar

“Cultural Migrants”
by Fujita Yuiko (Keio University)
(Please note that presentation will be made in Japanese)

Date & time: 5-7pm, Dec 7th 2007
Venue: Room 418, 19th Bldg. of Waseda University
(http://www.waseda.jp/jp/campus/nishiwaseda.html)

Abstract::
In recent years, a large number of young Japanese have been migrating to Western cities such as New York City and London, in order to engage themselves in cultural production in the fields of arts, fashion, dance, music, etc. How can we account for the factors of this young Japanese migration? Following Arjun Appadurai’s theory of the relation between media and migration, I explore how images of Western countries constructed by the media (transnational flows of media) lead young Japanese to migrate to the West (transnational flows of people). I also look at how they renegotiate their sense of Japaneseness after migration. By using ‘multi-sited ethnography’, I followed the migration process of twenty-two young people from Tokyo to New York City/London (and to Tokyo) over five years.