Abstract

Using 2010 Japanese census data, we critically interrogate the idea of integration through marriage in Japan. Intermarriage has been seen as a result of integration but the patterns of intermarriage and integration might depend on existing intersecting power structures in the receiving society. We explore assortative mating patterns in bi-national marriages in order to understand how citizenship status, race, gender, and educational level intersect and affect the patterns of intermarriage in Japan. We argue how ‘integration’ through bi-national marriage only perpetuates the structural hierarchy that premiers and maintain the status of the (male) native Japanese majority over Asian immigrants.

摘要

我们使用 2010 年日本人口普查数据，批判性地审视日本通过婚姻融合的理念。通婚被视为融合的结果，但通婚和融合的模式可能取决于接收社会中现有的交叉权力结构。我们探索两国婚姻中的选型交配模式，以了解公民身份、种族、性别和教育水平如何相互交织并影响日本的通婚模式。我们争辩说，通过跨国婚姻实现的“融合”如何只会使结构等级制度永久化，这种等级制度首先出现并维持了（男性）日本本土多数人对亚洲移民的地位。