“Ibasho” and Cultural Identity Formation of Japanese Immigrant Families in Indonesia

This presentation aims at discussing the cultural identity formation of Japanese immigrant families as well as the relationship between “Ibasho” (one’s place where one feels secure and comfortable) and cultural identity of the families. The participants were Japanese women married to Indonesian men (28 women at the beginning of the study) and their children living in Indonesia. The Cultural Anthropological - Clinical Psychological Approach [CACPA] (Suzuki & Fujiwara, 1992; Suzuki, 2002, 2008) was employed between 1991 and 2017. We carried out repeated interviews mainly and used the qualitative analysis. Results show that Japanese immigrant women became to have two cultural viewpoints in time, namely those of native and host cultures. They maintained, however, Japanese culture as the basis of their cultural identity throughout their lives. On the other hand, their children acquired more or less both Japanese and host cultures, forming bicultural identity (“identity as intercultural children with Japanese ancestry”). It is suggested that “Ibasho” plays an important role for cultural identity formation.