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

博士论文研究：移民与身份的性别建构：再现日本乡村游客的家

• 批准号: 0602711
• 负责人: Timothy Oakes
• 金额: $ 1.2万
• 依托单位: University of Colorado at Boulder
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2006
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2006-04-01 至 2008-03-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0602711&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Migration; Gendered

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.

第二次世界大战之后，日本经历了巨大的经济增长，迅速成为一个第一世界的国家。 这一过程的一部分包括快速城市化，这导致了许多国家乡村的人口减少。 同时，许多人对美国与农业过去的分离表示遗憾，声称日本民族身份位于乡村。 这个概念在一个理想化的地方表现出称为furusato（家乡/本地家庭）的缩影。 如今，在旅游业到位于农村地区的怀旧主题目的地的发展中，人们可以看到对日本农村地区的普遍怀旧。 这一发展导致了许多偏远村庄的重生，并增加了工人向这些目的地的移民。 这些工人中的许多人几乎没有其他工作可能性。 该博士学位论文项目将分析工人迁移到位于九州南部岛岛县偏远地区的特定农村旅游目的地的影响。 博士候选人旨在增强了解移民工人的工作和生活条件以及移民工人，当地旅馆所有者和当地居民之间的关系。 这项研究的数据将通过参与者的观察来收集日本的旅游酒店的员工，以及与旅馆工作人员，旅馆所有者和主管以及当地旅游官员和居民的半结构化访谈。 这些方法将在日本乡村旅游业的发展中揭示工人和当地人的生活。 预计这项研究将表明，尽管农村旅游目的地越来越多地转向移民劳动以满足工人的需求，但工人和当地居民尽管靠近，但互动却相对较少。 调查人员还期望发现，移民工人彼此依靠替代家庭，同时暂时居住在这个村庄的游客。拟议的研究将分析全球旅游业如何影响一个小而偏远的村庄以及在那里生活和工作的人们。 它将研究一个迅速失去其工业经济基础的第一世界国家的服务业的增长，这是世界上许多国家发生的情况。 随着在海外竞争中失去蓝领工作，日本雇主和工人必须适应变化的时代。 不断发展的服务业的某些部门，例如酒店业，为相对低技能的工人提供了工作机会，这些工人否则可能很难找到体面的工作。 但是，其中许多工作都需要搬到除当地人和游客以外的所有服务的地点。 对于那些感到孤立的工人和缺乏必要的劳动但往往对局外人警惕的当地社区的工人来说，移民工人向农村的运动构成了许多潜在的问题。 这项研究将研究与旅游业有关的移民工人经验，这两个研究领域很少相交，但对流动性和身份的核心关注。 这项研究对工作场所的民族认同和性别的研究具有潜在的影响，以及对旅游目的地计划和就业实践的实际影响。 作为博士学位论文研究改进奖，该奖项还将提供支持，使有前途的学生能够建立强大的独立研究职业。