Edgewise Community: Real Estate and Asian Settlers in Tokyo

After the latter half of the 1980’s the number of Asian people has increased as “new comer” in the inner area of big cities. As more than 25 years have passed since then, a question appeared if there was an appropriate term which expressed the situation of the community. In this paper, two area in Tokyo: Ikebukuro and Shin Okubo, are examined as case studies, and they are called “edge-wised community.” Edge-wised community is a community which has plural cultural basis, in which there exists a system designed from the bottom, and in which there exists a circuit which makes the system function.

        This paper consists of the research regarding the foreign residents’ motives in acquiring the housing and in having relationship with the network and other surroundings. Especially by focusing on the function of housing land and building dealers in the ethnic community, the actual condition for foreign residents to purchase the housing is clarified.

        Focusing on the above mentioned two themes, this paper aims at the structural understanding at the mezzo-level of the society. According to Hughes(1931): Chicago School third term, in his research of “Chicago real estate Board” housing land and building dealers are classified in five groups. In this report, combining both Hughe’s classification and the reporter’s classification of the number of renewal times of license of housing land and building dealers, characteristics of gate keepers are clarified. There, the phenomenon of circuit-izing between “cooperative channel” and foreign customers is seen.

        Then, what promoted foreign residents to acquire residence? In addition to “cooperative channel” centering housing land and building dealers in “edge-wised community,” improvement in the civility in foreign residents is thought to be a factor. In this regard, the actual condition is reported referring to the case studies of Ikebukuro and Okubo.