Introduction.- The History of Cantonese Migrants in Yokohama Chinatown.- The Xie Family in Yokohama Chinatown.- The Xie Family and Making of Overseas Chinese Associations.- The Xie Family and Cantonese Cultural Heritage.- Conclusion.
Yee Lam Elim Wong is an independent researcher. She studied PhD in Japanese Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Her major research interest is on overseas Chinese history in Japan, and she is also interested in East Asian popular culture and history.
Tai Wei Lim is an Associate Professor at Soka University (SUJ), Regional Advisor for Singapore University of Social Sciences (SUSS) and Senior Research Fellow (adj.) National University of Singapore (NUS) East Asian Institute (EAI).
This book vividly portrays the past, current, and future development of Yokohama Chinatown through the context of its Cantonese residents, grounded through a family history. It is useful for both academic and non- academic readers who are interested in migration history, transformation of urban spaces, anthropological perspectives of integration of immigrants, diasporic studies and overseas Chinese studies. It is informative when considering the role of immigrant communities in the world today in the context of globalization stimulating cross-border movements and anti-globalization forces that act as push and pull factors for migration. It is also a study of harmonious integration of the overseas Chinese community in Yokohama and its ability to retain its own cultural traits, rights, rituals, traditions and dialect language in one of the most homogenous countries in the world. This increases the attractiveness of Yokohama City in terms of ethnic diversity, cosmopolitan multiculturalism and urban space renewal.