Overview

A striking aspect of Japan's growing international activity is the return home each year of thousands of children who have lived abroad as a result of their parents' work. Until now, it has been widely believed that these children were stigmatized and that they faced severe problems in adjusting to the educational, linguistic and psychological realities of living in Japanese society. Drawing on his long-term fieldwork in one of the special schools set up to receive these children, the author challenges these ideas. He argues that the convergence of several factors - in particular parental status and a powerful new political rhetoric which stresses ""internationalization"" - is making these returnee children the vanguard of a new social elite which will guide Japan in the next century.

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Reviews

It is apparent that Goodman has reviewed an impressive body of literature in researching the complexities of the institutional responses to the kikokushijo, --International Journal of Comparative Sociology<br> Roger Goodman admirably documents the emergence of the kikokushijo in the social, cultural, and economic dynamics of post-war Japan....It is a fascinating story and it is apparent that Goodman has reviewed an impressive body of literature.... --International Journal of Contemporary Sociology<br> Challenging and provocative....An excellent contribution not only to the field of Japanese studies but also to anthropology with its increasing interest in areas of urban modernization and industrialized capitalism. --Journal of Anthropological Research<br> Provocative...[an] ambitious, thoughtful, and well-organized study. --American Anthropologist<br> One of those rare books that provides the reader with more than the title promises. Using anthropological field research and an interdisciplinary analysis of major post-World War II writing on Japanese schooling, Roger Goodman has produced a penetrating book on school returnees who have studies overseas while accompanying their working parents abroad. In addition, the author provides a thoughtful and provocative exploration of such critical educational issues as social-class influences on school success, the role of culture in defining education values, interest-group politics, and educational equality for minority groups in Japan. --Monumenta Nipponica<br>

<br> It is apparent that Goodman has reviewed an impressive body of literature in researching the complexities of the institutional responses to the kikokushijo, --International Journal of Comparative Sociology<br>Roger Goodman admirably documents the emergence of the kikokushijo in the social, cultural, and economic dynamics of post-war Japan....It is a fascinating story and it is apparent that Goodman has reviewed an impressive body of literature.... --International Journal of Contemporary Sociology<br> Challenging and provocative....An excellent contribution not only to the field of Japanese studies but also to anthropology with its increasing interest in areas of urban modernization and industrialized capitalism. --Journal of Anthropological Research<br> Provocative...[an] ambitious, thoughtful, and well-organized study. --American Anthropologist<br> One of those rare books that provides the reader with more than the title promises. Using anthropological field research and an inter

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