Local-Orientation in Japanese Youth and Xenophobia / Nationalism

　　The purpose of this study is to reveal the relationship between local-orientation in Japanese youth and xenophobia/nationalism. Regarding today’s Japanese youth, while their local-orientation is positively evaluated on the grounds of expectation as bearers of depopulated areas in an aging society with fewer children, it can be concerned about some negative aspects. One of the concerns is that their xenophobia can be increased by lack of opportunities to engage with various people.
　　This study analyzes a nationwide survey carried out by the Japan Youth Study Group in 2014. Respondents aged from 16 to 29 were sampled from mail survey panel owned by a research company. Two multiple regression analyses were conducted: one explained variable is the pros and cons of fostering nationalism; the other explained variable is tolerance for foreign-born neighbors. The explanatory variables are regional affection, mobility experiences, and consistency between residence in middle and high school and current residence. The control variables are gender, age, education, level of living, DID, cultural capital, number of friends and life satisfaction.
　　Major findings of the analyses are summarized as follows: First, cultural capital and regional affection have positive effects on the pros and cons of fostering nationalism. Second, the number of friends has a positive effect and consistency between old and current residence has a negative effect on tolerance to foreign-born neighbors. The result reveals that youth xenophobia is related to living in a native place as an actual fact rather than local-orientation as consciousness.
　　The Japanese government promotes policies to retain Japanese youth in their native places by reducing urban universities' admission quota and to bring in scholarships on the condition of job hunting in native places. On the basis of the above results, we can consider that these approaches have a risk of contributing to heightening Japanese youth’s xenophobia.