Japan in 2050 : An Anthropological Imagination of Japan's Future through the Dreams of Filipina Migrants(2010 Japanese Society of Cultural Anthropology Award Lecture)

概要

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What will Japan look like in 2050? By 2050, Japan's current population of 127 million will decline to 91 million, due to its low birth rate. The number of people aged 65 or older will increase to 40.5 percent of the total population by 2055. This is an ultra-aged society never experienced before in human history. Within such a demographic framework, Japan may be forced to "import" foreign labor for the survival of its economy. Thus, some foresee that Japan will have 10 million foreign residents by 2050, accounting for 11 percent of the total population, as compared with 2.2 million, or 1.7 percent, as of 2008. That necessarily leads to the scenario of Japan becoming multicultural. Against the background of such a future socio-demographic change in Japanese society, this paper examines transnational migration into Japan and the Japanese way of living together in a multicultural environment. Particularly focusing on the dreams of Filipina migrants, the paper discusses the cultural politics of migration, including the issues of citizenship and human rights, and seeks the possibility of establishing a public anthropology directed toward the future Japanese society.