NUMATA Sayoko

Positions, degrees

Research Associate; JSPS Research Fellowship

Research Keywords

Tatar; immigration studies; oral history

Email

sayokonmt[at]aa.tufs.ac.jp

Reflecting on the migrant experiences through their narratives

I am researching the experiences of Tatar migrants—Turkic Muslims who, following the Russian Revolution of 1917 as the primary catalyst, migrated from the Volga-Ural region to Manchuria, the Korean Peninsula and Japan. How do these people—who survived the turbulent era of the first half of the 20th century in East Asia and subsequently, except a few who remained in Japan, re-migrated to Türkiye or the United States—reflect on and recount their own lives? Driven by a desire to speak with them directly, I have been conducting interviews since 2010 in locations including Tokyo, Kobe, Istanbul, Ankara, San Francisco and New York. The second generation were not only born in East Asia, the place of relocation, but also experienced migration to third countries such as Türkiye and the United States. I have been exploring what ‘home’ means to them, whilst also considering the power inherent in the very act of questioning one’s home. Recently, I have also taken an interest in the third generation born in Türkiye and am continuing to conduct interviews to understand the significance of the history of migration undertaken by the first and second generations for them.