• Journal of the Korean association of regional geographers
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.17-39
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• 2011

As recent inflows of foreign immigrants to relatively advanced countries in Northeast Asia have rapidly increased, Japan in particular uses 'multicultural coexistance' as a key concept for developing both discourse and policies on them. This paper is first of all to suggest a new typology of multicultural societies in the world ill order to differentiate the case of Northeast Asian countries from those of Western countries. And this paper is to suggest that foreign immigrants in Japan have different positions in labor markets and living experiences according to historical and social backgrounds as well as their nationality. The transformation process towards multicultural society is not only historical and social but also geographical and spatial, as foreign immigrants have made different spatial distribution and regional segregation in types. In order to control this socio-spatial process towards multicultural society, Japan has developed the concept of 'multicultural coexistence' similar with that of multiculturalism in Western countries. This concept seems to be quite significant as it has been initiated by local communities for symbiotic relationship between foreign immigrants and native Japanese dwellers. But it can be regarded as a strategic ideology to control foreign immigrants as it targets mainly on Nikkeijin, and is usually concerned with the cultural aspect. Seen from a theoretical point of view, this concept can be seen as closed with liberal multiculturalism as opportunity equity, but far from corporative multiculturalism as outcome equity, and it is on the process transferring from the first stage of tolerance to the second stage of legislation of nondiscrimination, while being distant from the third stage of legislation paradigmization of recognition, and hence appears to be easily reverted to assimilationism.