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Newcomer Migrant Workers in the Underclass: A Yokohama, Japan Case Study
Author(s) -
Yamamoto Kahoruko
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
international journal of japanese sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.133
H-Index - 15
eISSN - 1475-6781
pISSN - 0918-7545
DOI - 10.1111/j.1475-6781.2000.tb00081.x
Subject(s) - underclass , ethnic group , livelihood , immigration , migrant workers , poverty , welfare , political science , demographic economics , social welfare , economic growth , sociology , geography , economics , archaeology , law , agriculture
This paper will investigate how some undocumented migrant workers survive in Kotobuki, Yokohama known as the urban underclass. Since the latter half of the 1990s, Kotobuki itself has undergone structural changes. Once a center of day laborers it is now a center of older ex‐laborers, mostly surviving on welfare. However, Kotobuki holds positive associations for many Korean and Pilipino migrants, many of whom arrived at the end of the 1980s. They regard the area as a place to earn high wages and as a center for building ethnic networks. Migrants tend to help their ethnic fellows find jobs and exchange information that they may otherwise be unable to acquire given that undocumented migrants are ineligible for public services in Japan. Additionally, ethnic‐related self‐help activities as well as NGOs play a valuable role in sustaining the livelihood of such migrants who are denied access to public services and assistance. This paper will illustrate the role of self‐help among ethnic minority migrant workers. It also aims to demonstrate that contrary to prevailing assumptions, their social status as underclass is not lower than that of their Japanese counterparts.