Description

Book Synopsis
For more than 140 years, Japan's koseki registration system has functioned as the official means by which an individual qualifies as "Japanese". Information concerning each family is entered into one koseki register record in a system that documents the status relationship information of Japan's population based on the notion of "bloodline".

Tracing the history of the koseki registration system from its inception in the Meiji era through its use in Japan's colonial holdings in the pre-war era and to the present day, The State Construction of "Japaneseness" challenges the very foundations of the system, arguing that it promotes prejudice and discrimination and fosters a divisive understanding of the "Japanese"as a people.

This significant work presents conclusive evidence on how the koseki registration system has used deeply problematic understandings of ethnicity, citizenship and the family to define "the Japanese", excluding and discriminating against those unable to fit into the framework of this highly politicised bureaucratic system.

Suntory Culture Award for Social Sciences and Humanities

The State Construction of 'Japaneseness': The Koseki Registration System in Japan

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    A Paperback by Masataka Endo

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      View other formats and editions of The State Construction of 'Japaneseness': The Koseki Registration System in Japan by Masataka Endo

      Publisher: Kyoto University Press and Trans Pacific Press
      Publication Date: 30/03/2021
      ISBN13: 9781920901622, 978-1920901622
      ISBN10:
      Also in:
      Asian history Sociology

      Description

      Book Synopsis
      For more than 140 years, Japan's koseki registration system has functioned as the official means by which an individual qualifies as "Japanese". Information concerning each family is entered into one koseki register record in a system that documents the status relationship information of Japan's population based on the notion of "bloodline".

      Tracing the history of the koseki registration system from its inception in the Meiji era through its use in Japan's colonial holdings in the pre-war era and to the present day, The State Construction of "Japaneseness" challenges the very foundations of the system, arguing that it promotes prejudice and discrimination and fosters a divisive understanding of the "Japanese"as a people.

      This significant work presents conclusive evidence on how the koseki registration system has used deeply problematic understandings of ethnicity, citizenship and the family to define "the Japanese", excluding and discriminating against those unable to fit into the framework of this highly politicised bureaucratic system.

      Suntory Culture Award for Social Sciences and Humanities

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