Zainichi Koreans and Mental Health
Psychiatric Problem in Japanese Korean Minorities, Their Social Background and Life Story
Routledge Contemporary Japan Series

Using a qualitative, interview-based approach, Kim investigates how conflicting identities and social marginalization affect the mental health of members of the ethnic Korean minority living in Japan.

So-called ?Zainichi? Koreans living in Japan have a higher suicide rate than native Japanese, or than any other ethnic group within Japan, a country which has one of the highest suicide rates in the world. Considering themselves neither truly Korean nor wholly Japanese, they are mainly descendants of immigrants who came to Japan during the colonial period in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Kim explores the challenges facing these individuals, including the dilemmas of ethnic education, the discrimination against them by mainstream society, and the consequent impacts on their mental health.

An insightful read both for scholars of Japanese culture and society and for anthropologists and sociologists with an interest in the effects of marginalization on ethnic minority citizens more broadly.

Introduction1. History and Actual Conditions of Zainichi Koreans 2. “Zainichi” Korean and Mental Disorders 3. Compound Discrimination and Mental Disorder/Suicide in Zainichi Korean Women 4. The Life Stories of Four Zainichi Koreans with Mental Disorders 5. Sociocultural Factors of Zainichi Koreans with Mental Disorders 6. Establishment of a Mental Health System for Zainichi Koreans Conclusion

Kim Taeyoung, also known as Izawa, Yasuki, is a Professor in the Department of Sociology at Toyo University, Japan. He is a third-generation "Zainichi" Korean naturalized in Japan.