Becoming Asian: Asianness as the Counter-Power Among Japanese Migrants

The complexity of connectivity is reflected in the migrant’s socialization process. Whilst the socialization process in transnational spaces often leads to further ethnic divisiveness, Japanese migrants who had opportunities to encounter Asian Others gradually embraced an overarching Asian identity in Dublin. The shared liminal status of migrants in the local society contributed to the forging of an emotional pan-Asian solidarity and acted as a form of migrant identity against hegemonic whiteness. By ethnographically examining the identity construction patterns of Japanese migrants in Dublin, this article aims to unfold how the idea of Asianism plays out in the shifting racial dynamics.