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Programme: accepted abstracts

Abstract ID: 1020

Part of General Poster Session (Other abstracts in this session)

The social meaning of the Japanese language in pan-ethnic G mosque in Tokyo suburbs

Authors: Yamashita, Rika
Submitted by: Yamashita, Rika (University of Tokyo, Japan)

  How do migrant and local languages interact?  This paper analyses the linguistic ecology (Haugen 1972) at G mosque, using data from participant observation in community events and interviews with parents (2007-2010).  Without any official demographic data on Muslims, Muslims are an invisible minority group in Japan.  It is a very heterogeneous community in terms of socio-economic status, linguistic background and ethnicity.  Both Japanese and non-Japanese Muslims form a community of practice (Lave and Wenger, 1991) as Muslims in Japan, gathering at urban mosques, making it a microcosm of urban linguistic issues.

  G mosque is in a residential area in Tokyo suburbs, developed in the 1960’s with good access to central Tokyo.  Many members are Pakistanis and other South Asians; other members include Japanese, South-east Asians, sub-Saharan Africa etc.  Muslims gather to pray together, talk, listen to lectures, and bring their children to learn and play with their peers. The pan-ethnic nature of Islam and how the Japanese already share many of the same virtues as in Islam are often repeated in institutional discourses by non-Japanese Muslims. 

  Many Muslim children go to local schools, receiving education in Japanese language and Japanese school culture.  G mosque provides complementary evening classes in English and the Qur’an.  Unlike complementary schools elsewhere (e.g. Blackledge, Creese et al, 2008), the school does not provide mother tongue classes.  The parents at G mosque are far more willing to invest in learning English (and some Arabic).

  The motivation towards teaching English in this community is different from that of the non-Muslim Japanese.  Most parents, many who work in self-owned businesses, do not wish their children to be white collar workers in Japanese companies or organisations.  They feel proud that their community and their everyday life is self-sufficient, without receiving financial aids from public services.  Parents worry that working and living in Japan may not be the best option in future in terms of cultural, ethnic and linguistic issues they anticipate as a minority group, concluding that children should be fluent in English. 

  Attitude towards non-Japanese children learning Japanese scripts is conflictual at institutional level and at personal level.  South Asian parents consider learning kanji characters difficult and time-wasting, affecting their children’s attitude towards learning them.  Meanwhile, the imam framed children’s Japanese literacy skills as ‘promising’ in respect to spreading Islam in Japan. 

  In conclusion, rather than considering it an outsider language or unuseful language in global terms, institutional discourses attach a new social meaning to the Japanese language which fits their aim as a community and their interethnic reality.  Members associate themselves with the imagined community (Anderson 1991) of Muslims around the world, which is culturally, spiritually, and economically larger than Japan on its own.  This view promotes learning Quranic Arabic and English in order to stay connected with the religious identity, global community and mobility.  At the same time, emphasising how it is their duty to save Japan from the 'materialistic West', the Japanese language is redefined as a means for them to 'help' the local non-Muslims.