Customer Reviews

Japan's Minorities: The illusion of homogeneity (Sheffield Centre for Japanese Studies/Routledge Series)

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I read this book as an undergrad, and was impressed overall with the clarity and sensitivity of the writing. Though I admit to being less than interested in some of the topics covered, and to being somewhat cold to the loads of statistical data brought in in some places, I especially find now that Michael Weiner's introduction and chapter on "The Invention of Identity," and Millie Creighton's excellent article "Soto Others and Uchi Others" reverberate more with time. Weiner provides a great summary of the history of the making of "Japan" as we think of it today, and I find myself going back to it often as I read other books.

As a member of a minority group in Japan whose existence was unexplored by the contributing authors, I was somewhat dismayed upon reading my copy. The topics addressed in this book made for fascinating reading. One would hope that future editions would include a chapter,or perhaps more than a passing reference to the problems of the Konketsuji, or mixed race groups of Japan, whose members include some of those whom the Japanese most despise and who face some of the more insidious forms of discrimination in Japan.