The fifty-first session of the Japanese Politics Online Seminar Series (JPOSS) took place on October 10, 2024. Phillip Y. Lipscy (University of Toronto) chaired the seminar and moderated the Q&A session.
Kai Zhou (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) presented a paper co-authored with Yusaku Horiuchi (Dartmouth College) examining discrimination against invisible attributes, with a focus on the case of Zainichi Koreans in Japan. Drawing on research into the practice of ethnic passing using names and the theory on intergroup contact in reducing the effects of prejudice, the authors field two conjoint survey experiments to ascertain the effects of presenting Zainichi Korean and Korean names names to respondents who are asked to select their preferred job candidate in a hypothetical hiring process. Their analysis yields effects of discrimination in both instances, with Korean names observing a larger effect than Zainichi Korean names, compared to Japanese names. In their second study that targets the geographical region of Kansai with higher concentrations of Zainichi Koreans, they find the effect to be conditional on the level of intergroup social contact reported by respondents, with individuals reporting high levels of contact yielding null effects of discrimination in the conjoint.
Kazuko Suzuki (Texas A&M University) and Phillip Y. Lipscy (University of Toronto) offered insightful suggestions on additional literature to consider and comments on the mechanisms driving the outcome. During the Q&A session, participants furthered discussions on existing literature, politicized information signaled by the names, and alternative explanations for the results observed.
The organizers would like to thank the presenters, discussants, and participants, as well as the staff at the Harvard Program on U.S.-Japan Relations, who provided administrative support. We look forward to seeing you at the next session of JPOSS: https://jposs.org/.