Poster Presentation
8. Negotiating Margins: Representations, Resistances, Agencies
Immigrant fathers living in Japan have not been given much attention in Japanese family scholarship. In this study, the author examines how Zainichi fathers negotiate between Japanese and Korean legacies and cultural expectations regarding fatherhood. Relying on a symbolic interactionist perspective and a life course perspective, and through qualitative research involving in-depth interviews with sixteen Zainichi fathers his study focuses on their perceptionsand experiences of fatherhood in Japan. Zainichi Korean fathers living in urban centers are influenced by their “situational adjustment” and racialized history express a mix of fear, admiration, and empathy for their aging fathers. With regard to their own fathering the salience and importance of men’s fathering identity was universal across 2nd and 3rd generation Zainichi fathers. Zainichi fathers face daily pressures to be a breadwinner and their provision role is central. They largely absorb the contemporary nurturing and caring approach new father ideal. Education is also highly valued and a strategy for imagining beyond the Korean/Japan ethnonational binary. Importantly, men’s racialized history as Zainichi Koreans, pervades their experiences as both a man, father and adult son. Intergenerational relationship analysis further points to several life course discursive strategies that permit men to balance negative judgments with positive ones of their aging adult fathers. These reflections inform their own fathering visions for their own children. This paper moves beyond prior research to extend the concept to father-son dyads, the Asian immigrant context, and the neglected racialized history shaping the culture and conduct of men’s fatherhood living in Japan.
Allen Kim
International Christian University, Japan