The Social Representation of Japan among Hispano-American Professional Immigrants: Symbolic Dimensions Beyond Economic Motivations

This article examines how Hispano-American professionals constructed pre-migration representations of Japan as a meaningful destination, and how cultural exposure shaped symbolic imaginaries of aspirational mobility. Drawing on Social Representations Theory and a mixed-methods design (prototypical analysis, semantic network analysis, interviews, and surveys with 181 Japan residents who arrived in the twenty-first century), the study reveals a hierarchically structured image anchored in excellence, visual culture, learning, and safety. These reflect core cultural and growth-learning orientations with peripheral economic elements. Early and sustained exposure to Japanese media emerges as a key mechanism of objectification and anchoring, positioning Japan as a desirable destination in the absence of ethnic or institutional networks. Findings demonstrate that migration involves meaning-making, where cultural fascination, personal development, and aspirational identity coalesce, contributing a symbolic and cognitive dimension to migration theory.