Zainichi Koreans and Mental Health

Psychiatric Problem in Japanese Korean Minorities, Their Social Background and Life Story

Taeyoung Kim

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• ISBN:
  9781000456769
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Sozialwissenschaften
• Subtopic: Minderheitenstudien

Using a qualitative, interview-based approach, Kim investigates how conflicting identities and social marginalization affect the mental health of members of the ethnic Korean minority living in Japan.

So-called "Zainichi" Koreans living in Japan have a higher suicide rate than native Japanese, or than any other ethnic group within Japan, a country which has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. Considering themselves neither truly Korean nor wholly Japanese, they are mainly descendants of immigrants who came to Japan during the colonial period in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Kim explores the challenges facing these individuals, including the dilemmas of ethnic education, the discrimination against them by mainstream society, and the consequent impacts on their mental health.

An insightful read both for scholars of Japanese culture and society and for anthropologists and sociologists with an interest in the effects of marginalization on ethnic minority citizens more broadly.

1 History and actual condition of Zainichi Koreans

DOI: 10.4324/9781003177050-1

Up to this point, the term “Zainichi Korean” has been used without providing a specific definition. Who are “Zainichi Koreans”? At the beginning of this book, the term “Zainichi Korean” was used as the “general term for persons with roots in the Korean Peninsula who were directly or indirectly affected by Japan's colonial domination over the Korean Peninsula and who moved to Japan.” In modern society, determining to what extent should various persons be included (or would like to be included) within the scope of “Zainichi Korean,” and who should not be included (or would like to not be included), has become difficult. Here, “Zainichi Korean” include persons of South Korean, North Korean, persons with Japanese, or other citizenship.

Attributes of Zainichi Koreans have also become more complicated, such as persons who were born from parents of North/South Korean, Japanese, and/or other nationalities, referred to as “double” (or “half”). Within that meaning, self-definition as “Zainichi Korean” as an objective indicator (nationality, etc.) has become difficult and has become closer to the subjective indicator that “I am a Zainichi Korean,” or “I am one of those people who are called Zainichi Korean.” In other words, “Zainichi Koreans” are ethnic minorities with roots in the Korean Peninsula who have been directly and indirectly affected by Japan's colonial domination over the Korean Peninsula, and then moved to Japan. They are also comprised of persons with various attributes and are subject to disrespect and discriminatory treatment even in modern society.

As Table 1.1 shows, there was a time in Japan where “foreigners in Japan” used to refer to “Zainichi Koreans.” However, the proportion gradually decreased, and in modern times, “Zainichi Koreans” becomes one of many foreigners. Among these the “Number of North/South Koreans” who entered Japan after the 1980s, called “newcomer Koreans,” are also included in “Zainichi Koreans.” Among the “Number of North/South Koreans,” the number of “special permanent residents” almost coincides with the number of Zainichi Koreans. “Special permanent resident” is a residence status regulated by the “Special Act on the Immigration Control of Inter Alia, Those Who Have Lost Japanese Nationality Pursuant to the Treaty of Peace with Japan,” under the Japanese law that came into effect on November 1, 1991. Persons targeted by this Act include “persons who have lost Japanese Nationality Pursuant to a Treaty of Peace,” or “a descendant of a person who has lost Japanese Nationality Pursuant to a Treaty of Peace,” and specifically North/South Koreans and Taiwanese who lost Japanese nationality pursuant to the San Francisco Peace Treaty that came into effect on April 28, 1952. Among special permanent residents, persons with nationalities other than North/South Korean comprise 1% of the total. In other words, almost all special permanent residents are North/South Koreans. Consequently, the number of special permanent residents is considered to indicate the number of Zainichi Koreans.

Table 1.1Changes in the number of North/South Korean nationals in Japan (prepared based on “Changes in the Number of Foreign Residents” (previously “Changes in the Number of Registered Foreign Nationals”) by the Ministry of Justice)

Year	Number of fo...