TRANSNATIONAL GENTRIFICATION IN NISEKO , JAPAN : A Model of Displacement Led by Linked Migration

Abstract

Transnational gentrification scholarship has provided insights into how transnational migration reshapes urban areas, yet its analytical lens has rarely extended to peripheral rural contexts outside Euro‐American settings, where distinct actors and mechanisms may emerge. This study examines Niseko, a rural area experiencing Japan's highest land price increases alongside significant demographic shifts. Grounded in gentrification scholarship and employing a displacement‐centered approach, this research combines socio‐economic data analysis with 33 semi‐structured interviews conducted in 2023 to trace the actors and mechanisms driving displacement. Our study reveals a ‘linked migration’ pattern: affluent transnational migrants initiate transformation, establishing English‐speaking business environments that, combined with local labor shortages, structurally attract transnational labor migrants. This pattern generates multi‐layered displacement through distinct pathways, with the affluent group driving displacement through capital investment and transformation of the built environment, and the labor force producing displacement pressure through housing competition and socio‐cultural disruption. This research theorizes a dual‐agent displacement model driven by linked migration, identifying the transnational labor force as a gentrifying agent, a role largely overlooked in existing scholarship, and demonstrates that the intersection of transnationality and rurality intensifies these dynamics. These findings offer theoretical and empirical insights for understanding amenity‐led transformations in peripheral communities worldwide.