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Dr. Weiner is the recipient of multiple grants and fellowships, including those from the British Academy,
the Economic and Social Research Council, the Japan Foundation, Sasakawa Foundation, Japan Ministry
of Education, Harvard, Hōsei and Hokkaido Universities.

Grants and Fellowships

He has also held visiting professorships at University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Dartmouth College. Dr. Weiner is the former Managing Editor of Japan Forum, currently serves on the editorial boards of several professional journals and as external examiner for universities in the United States, Europe and Australia. He has been awarded Professor of the Year at two universities: San Diego State University (2005); and Soka University of
America (2006).

Awards and Recognition

Economic and Social Research Council, Pacific Asia Initiative

British Academy

Japan Foundation (multiple)

Japan. Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation

Japanese Ministry of Education

Discourses of race, nation and empire in pre‐1945 Japan

The Internationalization of Japan provides the English-speaking reader with the opportunity to hear what some of Japan's leading social scientists and other commentators have to say about the internationalization of their country as well as their country's impact overseas.The topic is of extreme importance now as the international community demands a greater Japanese contribution to international society as well as changes in Japan to facilitate foreign access. The book discusses the internationalization of politics, economy and society. Topics of special interest include the internationalization of Japanese capital, the response of Japanese society to foreign workers, local level initiatives for internationalization and the internationalization of education.To place the internationalization of Japan in comparative perspective there are chapters on Britain and the United States from a leading British and a leading American political scientist respectively. These two and the editors aside, all the contributors are highly regarded Japanese scholars or commentators.

The Internationalization of Japan (Sheffield Centre for Japanese Studies/Routledge Series)

A high degree of cultural and racial homogeneity has long been associated with Japan, with its political discourse and with the lexicon of post-war Japanese scholarship. This book examines underlying assumptions. The author provides an analysis of racial discourse in Japan, its articulation and re-articulation over the past century, against the background of labour migration from the colonial periphery. He deconstructs the myth of a `Japanese race'.Michael Weiner pursues a second major theme of colonial migration; its causes and consequences. Rather than merely identifying the `push factors', the analysis focuses on the more dynamic `pull factors' that determined immigrant destinations. Similarly, rather than focusing upon the immigrant, the author examines the structural need for low-cost temporary labour that was filled by Korean immigrants.

Race and Migration in Imperial Japan (Sheffield Centre for Japanese Studies/Routledge Series)

First published in 1997. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Japan's Minorities: The illusion of homogeneity (Sheffield Centre for Japanese Studies/Routledge Series)

The Pacific Basin: An Introduction is a new textbook which provides an interdisciplinary and comparative overview of the emerging Pacific world. Interest in the Pacific Basin has increased markedly in recent years, driven largely by the rise of China as a global rival to the United States and Asian development more generally. Growth in eastern Asia, as well as in the western Americas, has led the Pacific Basin to evolve as a dynamic economic zone. To make sense of this transformation, the book:   Defines the Pacific Basin, locates it in academic research, and explains its importance.    Addressees the historical origins and evolution of the Pacific Basin and its sub-regions.   Introduces students to the historical and contemporary relationships, continuities and differences that characterize the region.   Incorporates analyses of colonialism and imperialism, migration and settlement, economic development and trade, international relations, war and memory, environmental policy, urbanization, mental and public health, gender, film, and literature.    Connects the diverse peoples of this vast area, explores their common challenges and the diverse responses to these challenges, and provides a window into the lived humanity of the Pacific Basin.   The Pacific Basin: An Introduction is a key textbook for undergraduate courses on the Pacific Basin, the Pacific Rim, International Studies, Geography, World History, and Globalization.

The Pacific Basin: An Introduction

Origins of the Korean Community in Japan, 1910-1923 (Studies on East Asia)

Drawing on the full range of materials published during the twentieth century, this three volume set incorporates previously published material concerning the formation of 'racial' identities in Japan, and social exclusion as experienced by the Ainu, Burakumin, Okinawans, and Chinese and Korean residents. It also includes material related to migration, both pre- and post-war, with special reference to the formation of Nikkeijin (Latin American national of Japanese descent) communities. In addition to those populations conventionally defined as minorities, 'racial' discourse also affects Japanese attitudes toward and perceptions of other groups (e.g. Asians, Blacks, Jews). To ensure both the fullest possible coverage of the related literature and to provide a framework for comparative analysis, this set also incorporates analyses of Japanese attitudes toward these groups. Intended as a resource for both students and specialist researchers, this collection provides a unique introduction of the English language literature related to 'race', migration, and identity in Japan. In addition to textual material related to specific issues or groups, the set provides comprehensive bibliographies and a listing of relevant Internet sources. There is also a new introduction and thorough index, making this set an invaluable reference tool.

Race, Ethnicity and Migration in Modern Japan

Based on original research, Japan's Minorities provides a clear historical introduction to the formation of individual minorities, followed by an analysis of the contemporary situation.  This second edition identifies and explores the six principal minority groups in Japan: the Ainu, the Burakumin, the Chinese, the Koreans, the Nikkeijin and the Okinawans. Examining the ways in which the Japanese have manipulated historical events, such as Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the contributors reveal the presence of an underlying concept of ‘Japaneseness’ that excludes members of these minorities. The book addresses key themes including:   the role of this ideology of ‘race’ in the construction of the Japanese identity historical memory and its suppression  contemporary labour migration to Japan  the three-hundred year existence of Chinese communities in Japan mixed-race children in Japan the feminization of contemporary migration to Japan. Still the only scholarly examination of issues of race, ethnicity and marginality in Japan from both a historical and comparative perspective, this new edition will be essential reading for scholars and students of Japanese studies, ethnic and racial studies, culture and society, anthropology and politics.

Dr. Michael Weiner is Associate Dean of Faculty and Professor of East Asian History and International
Studies at Soka University of America (SUA). His previous positions include Professor and Chair of Asian
Studies at San Diego State University, and Reader in Japanese at the University of Sheffield, UK. He
received his B.A. from Sophia University, Tokyo, and his Ph.D. from the University of Sheffield, UK.

Dr. Weiner is the author of numerous books and more than thirty peer-refereed journal articles. He has
also appeared in the media (newspaper, radio, television) in Japan, Great Britain, and the United States.
His current research interests include the history of medicine in Japan with particular reference to the
social history of leprosy and leprosy control. He is the co-author of a chapter comparing disease control
in modernizing states (Chile and Japan), which appears in The Pacific Basin: An Introduction (2017),
which he also co-edited. Dr. Weiner has recently been commissioned to edit a Routledge Handbook,
“Race and Ethnicity in Asia”, which will involve collaboration with thirty scholars from North America,
Europe, Asia, Australia, and Oceania. He is a Taylor &amp; Francis Routledge “Featured Author”.

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