Layered Migrant Identities: The Case of Filipino Nikkeijin Workers in Japan
Ron Bridget Vilog

Abstract
This paper examines the impact of transnational migration to the ethnic consciousness of Philippine nikkeijins. Exploring the effects of migrant experiences to the construction of ethnic identity, this paper argues that while the experience of transnational migration reveal various layers of national and ethnic consciousness, more exclusivist ethnic borders within and even beyond national identities are created and modified depending on the underlying social conditions experienced by the migrants. The study utilizes in-depth interviews of fifty (50) Filipino nikkeijins in Aichi Prefecture, Japan. Mostly workers in Japanese industrial factories, these nikkeijins belong to the third generation of descendants of Japanese nationals who emigrated to the Philippines before and during the Pacific War.

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