Generation, family and migration: Young Brazilian factory workers in Japan

Abstract

This article focuses on the significance of generational difference and kinship ties in the lives of young Brazilian migrants living and working in Japan. On these terms, I transcend an ongoing tendency in transnational migration studies to highlight the importance of economic motivation, a myth of return and the primary significance of communal ties in the shaping of everyday migrant experiences. By treating generational difference as a kin relationship I consider the central influence of family in shaping the experiences and future plans of young Brazilian migrants in Japan. By considering generational difference as a migrant relationship I discuss young people’s perceptions of freedom, familial obligation and easy money in the light of contested understandings of what it means to be a Brazilian migrant in Japan. Through this analysis, the article offers fresh insights into both migration between Brazil and Japan and understandings of belonging, difference and attachment in transnational social spaces.