Doctoral Dissertation Research: Migration and Gendered Constructions of Identity: Reproducing the Home for Tourists in Rural Japan

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Following World War II, Japan experienced dramatic economic growth, quickly becoming a first-world nation. Part of this process included rapid urbanization, which led to the depopulation of many of the nation's rural villages. In the meantime, many people lamented the nation's separation from its agricultural past, claiming that Japanese national identity was located in the countryside. This notion is epitomized in an idealized place called furusato (hometown/native home). Today, widespread nostalgia for rural Japan can be seen in the growth of tourism to nostalgic-themed destinations located in rural areas. This development has led to the rebirth of many remote villages and the increased migration of workers to these destinations. Many of these workers have few other job possibilities. This doctoral dissertation project will analyze the impact of worker migration to a particular rural tourist destination located in a remote area of Kumamoto Prefecture on the southern island of Kyushu. The doctoral candidate aims to enhance understanding the working and living conditions of migrant workers as well as the relationships among between migrant workers, local inn owners, and local inhabitants. Data for this research will be collected through participant observation as an employee at a tourist inn located in Japan and semi-structured interviews with inn workers, inn owners and supervisors as well as local tourism officials and residents. These methods will uncover the lives of workers and locals amid the growth of the tourist industry in rural Japan. It is expected that this research will show that while rural tourist destinations increasingly turn to migrant labor to satisfy worker demand, the workers and local inhabitants have relatively little interaction despite their proximity. The investigators also anticipate discovering that migrant workers rely on each other as a surrogate family while temporarily living in this village that caters to tourists.The proposed research will analyze how the global process of tourism affects a small, remote village and the people who both live and work there. It will look at the growth of the service industry in a first-world nation that is fast losing its industrial economic base, a situation occurring in many nations around the world. With the loss of blue-collar jobs to overseas competition, Japanese employers and workers must adjust to changing times. Certain sectors of the growing service industry, such as the hospitality industry, provide job opportunities for relatively low-skilled workers who might otherwise struggle to find decent work. However, many of these jobs require moving to locations that lack services for all but locals and tourists. The movement of migrant workers to the countryside poses numerous potential problems, both for workers who feel isolated and for local communities who lack the necessary labor but tend to be wary of outsiders. This research will examine the migrant worker experience in relation to tourism, two fields of study that seldom intersect yet that share central concerns of mobility and identity. This research has potential implications for the study of national identity and gender in the workplace as well as practical implications for the tourist industry in regard to tourist destination planning and employment practices. As a Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement award, this award also will provide support to enable a promising student to establish a strong independent research career.