Cultural migrants : the 'imagined West' and the national identity of young Japanese in Tokyo, New York City and London

This thesis examines the joint effect of media and migration on national identity. It particularly aims to explore (1) how people conceive the idea of migration to Western countries for symbolic reasons; (2) how migrants experience their sense of national identity in their host country. To answer these questions, I conducted a case study of twenty-two young Japanese. By using 'multi-sited ethnography', I followed their migration process from Tokyo to New York City/London (and to Tokyo) over three years. The first question is based on Arjun Appadurai's theory of the relation between media and migration. Following this theory, I show how the media lead potential migrants to construct their 'imagined worlds'. Having been exposed to a large quantity of images conveyed by the media, some respondents begin to imagine NYC to be very 'similar' to Tokyo and believe that they can live a 'normal' life with better prospects; others imagine London to be the place where they can acquire 'cultural capital' for their art careers. Thus, they conceive the idea of migration to these particular regions of their 'imagined West'. As for the second question, however, I argue that the media do not always enable migrants to develop transnational identities, and here I challenge the emerging orthodoxy in theories of transnationalism. In this case, the key is the 'homogeneous' Japanese national identity which the young migrants bring with them. Because Japan is generally considered 'racially homogenous', they are not much aware of issues concerning 'race' and ethnic relations while living there. After arriving in NYC or London, however, their race becomes 'marked', and various obstacles become visible to them in their everyday lives. Consequently, they renegotiate their sense of Japaneseness in significant ways, and often develop a stronger attachment to their nation of origin than they had prior to migration

Enpp1 is an anti-aging factor that regulates Klotho under phosphate overload conditions

Control of phosphate metabolism is crucial to regulate aging in mammals. Klotho is a well-known anti-aging factor that regulates phosphate metabolism: mice mutant or deficient in Klotho exhibit phenotypes resembling human aging. Here we show that ectonucleotide pyrophosphatase/phosphodiesterase 1 (Enpp1) is required for Klotho expression under phosphate overload conditions. Loss-of-function Enpp1 ttw/ttw mice under phosphate overload conditions exhibited phenotypes resembling human aging and Klotho mutants, such as short life span, arteriosclerosis and osteoporosis, with elevated serum 1,25(OH)2D3 levels. Enpp1ttw/ttw mice also exhibited significantly reduced renal Klotho expression under phosphate overload conditions, and aging phenotypes in these mice were rescued by Klotho overexpression, a low vitamin D diet or vitamin D receptor knockout. These findings indicate that Enpp1 plays a crucial role in regulating aging via Klotho expression under phosphate overload conditions

Cultural migrants : the 'imagined West' and the national identity of young Japanese in Tokyo, New York City and London

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

メディア・文化研究とエスノグラフィー

フィールド・レビューField Revie