On 16 October 2010, German Chancellor Angela Merkel declared multiculturalism in Germany a failure. Far-right parties that have recently gained power in countries such as Sweden and Austria have further raised doubts about the viability of multiculturalism in Western Europe and North America. Meanwhile, in South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan, where immigration is tightly controlled and integration programs are at their infancy, the catchword, “multiculturalism,” has gained popularity among policymakers and the public alike. This paper argues that the variants of multiculturalism developing in the three countries represent each society’s attempt to improve upon what policymakers view as the failures of multiculturalism—and, more broadly, diversity—in traditional countries of immigration. Multicultural discourse and programs ostensibly attempt to promote greater diversity and openness in South Korea, Japan, and Taiwan; yet, they are more notable for the ways in which specific categories of foreigners are included and excluded. Whereas “multicultural society” in Korea signifies a broadened definition of Korean national identity to include specific categories of “overseas Koreans” and foreign spouses, “multicultural coexistence” in Japan has further narrowed conceptions of Japanese national identity to exclude ethnic Japanese (Nikkei) foreigners. The arrival of new immigrants to Taiwan has shaped a type of hierarchical “multiculturalism” with native ethnic groups at the top, non-Chinese migrants in the middle, and mainland Chinese marriage migrants at the bottom. Using interview and focus group data of the major foreign communities in each country, I analyze how government officials, the media, pro-immigrant advocacy groups, and immigrants themselves define and negotiate these frameworks.

Erin Aeran Chung is the Charles D. Miller Associate Professor of East Asian Politics in the Department of Political Science and the Director of the East Asian Studies Program at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland. She is also the Co-Director of the Racism, Immigration, and Citizenship (RIC) Program at Hopkins. She specializes in East Asian political economy, international migration, and comparative racial politics.