The aim of this study is twofold: Firstly, it investigates the role of intermarriage or ‘Kokusai kekkon’ with Japanese natives in facilitating Moroccan migration to Japan. Secondly, it aims to understand the factors which have pushed Moroccan migrants to return home. Over the last decade, a growing number of Moroccan migrants have relied on ‘Kokusai kekkon’ or ‘intermarriage’ with Japanese natives as a strategy to migrate to Japan. Nevertheless, many of these migrants return to Morocco after years of residence and work in Japan. The study takes the hypothesis of structural reasons in Japan and Morocco as the causes of this act. Drawing from in-depth interviews with six former Moroccan migrants who have returned to Morocco, quantitative and qualitative data was collected and analyzed to understand some of the reasons behind this return migration. The study showed that intermarriage was strategic to migration for the majority of the informants; however, it was not a sufficient factor to prevent their return to Morocco. It also revealed many structural factors in both Japan and Morocco that have encouraged this return; including the inability to generate savings, the incapability to remit as well as Japan’s restrictive citizenship requirements
Keywords:Kokusai kekkon Intermarriage, n, Moroccan Returnees, Japan’s Migration
Policies
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.