Black Market, Chinatown, and Kabukichō: Postwar Japanese Constructs of "Overseas Chinese"

This paper examines postwar Japanese experiences of kakyō, or "overseas Chinese," focusing on three "sites": the black market, Chinatown, and Kabukichō. It argues that Japanese society assigns to the Chinese immigrant community stereotypical meanings that reflect first and foremost Japanese preoccupations in domestic and international affairs. Nonetheless, it also contends that the immigrants are not completely detached or passive, for they collaborate in the production of the stereotypes while trying to manipulate them to their advantage. By way of conclusion, it discusses some of the latest moves by host society and immigrant community to renegotiate the meaning of kakyō in the early twenty-first century.