This book surveys and documents the life histories of pre-Pacific War Japanese migrants and their descendants in the Philippines, called “Philippine Nikkeijin,” spanning across three generations: the first, Issei; the second, Nisei; and the third, Sansei.
Based on the author’s in-depth interviews set in various parts of the Philippines and Japan, the book examines the anfractuosity of the formation of the biggest Japanese community in pre-war Southeast Asia, and some factors behind the birth of thousands of Nisei of mixed Japanese and Filipino parentage. It also reflects upon the origin and complexities of their problems such as ambiguous citizenship (nationality) and the long separation of families.
Finally, this book analyzes the transformations in identity and citizenship among Philippine Nikkeijin as well as the mechanisms of their unique identity politics and its parallels with the amelioration of war-wounded Philippine-Japan relations and the acceleration of transnational human mobility between the two neighboring countries.
Published in 2015.