Japan and many of its observers have avoided the confusion and contention associated with diversity by assuming, asserting and elaborating a monolithic, monoethnic Japan that jostles uncomfortably with the melange of peoples who populate the archipelago. In teaching Japanese university students for nearly 14 years, I have been struck by the implicit assumption of uniformity that informs discourse on race in Japan. Indeed, the issues of race and ethnicity are often discussed, with no trace of envy, as something only other countries have.
The daily diversity encountered in Japan is extraordinary if one is expecting uniformity and hard to reconcile with popular perceptions. The well-heeled "gaijin" ghetto of Hiroo is only a short clamber from the little Korea off Azabu Juban. The denizens of Roppongi, Harajuku and Ueno would be as surprised as the revelers of Komoro to learn that Japan is only home to the Japanese. The author opens with the wry observation, "If the dominant view of modern Japanese society were correct, then 'Multiethnic Japan' would be either an oxymoron or an occasion for a very short essay."
In crafting the myth of monoethnicity, ethnic groups such as the Ainu, Okinawans, "burakumin," Koreans and Chinese, constituting some 4-6 million people out of a population of 125 million, are swept under the national tatami. But how can implausible claims of monoethnicity be sustained in the face of the evident diversity and growing assertiveness of previously silenced minorities? Why is it that the fundamental forces that shaped modern Japan and turned it into a multiethnic society are so resolutely denied? What drives a powerful ethno-nationalism that seeks to suppress ethnic heterogeneity and cultural hybridity? These and other important questions lie at the heart of this excellent study on the ideology of Japanese identity.