Living as a quasi-citizen in Japan: the Brazilian Nikkeijin diaspora

Circular migration has been portrayed as the ultimate solution for migration governance. In fact, policy makers and academics consider circular migration and other temporary forms of migration as a way to obtain mutual gains for sending countries, receiving countries and migrants (Vertovec, 2007). Circular migration encompasses different type of processes such as temporary migration programs, return migration, limited term contracts and temporary visas (Yamashiro: 2013, Oda 2010a). In order to understand the advantages and disadvantages of circular migration, it is necessary to unpack each of these programs. The assumption that temporary migration is beneficial for emigration countries, immigration countries and migrants needs to be analysed more critically, since these programs have a transformative effect both in sending and receiving societies. For instance, in some cases temporary migration can disrupt the basis and components of citizenship, identity or ethnicity.

One of the most representative cases to illustrate the disruptive effect of temporary programs in the social and political order is the case of Japanese-Brazilian migrants retuning to Japan (Hokara, 2002). Since 1990, the Japanese government approved a law that enables foreign nationals of Japanese ancestry to enter Japan as temporary workers. Several scholars have described this phenomenon as a “temporary status program”, “long term resident program” (Oda, 2010), “return migration program” (Touro, 2001) and “limited-term contracts” (Terasawa, 2000). One of the main contributions in the study of these Brazilian Nikkeijin (descendants of Japanese emigrants) is their conceptualization as secondary citizens (Yamanaka, 2003). According to Joppke (2007), citizenship has three different aspects: status, rights and identity. Using this framework, this essay argues that the Control and Refugee Recognition Act enabling Brazilian immigrants to return temporally to Japan has created a new status of quasi-citizenship.

Analysing the circular migration of this population from this perspective enable us to understand the role of the Japanese government on shaping restrictive immigration laws and the living condition of the Nikkeijin. On the one hand, the first part of the essay argues that Nikkeijin migration is an instrument of social closure. The first part uses Joppke’s (2007) framework to demonstrate that Japanese-Brazilians are quasi-citizens in Japan with a legal status, economic rights and a common identity. On the other hand, the second part argues that there are three main obstacles that prevent this migrant community to be fully admitted as citizens. These three factors are the following: the state modelling and concerns role, the lack of accommodation of diversity in the Japanese society and finally the formation of a transnational community.