Contemporary Issues in Migration to Japan
Spring 2021
Instructor: Prof. David Green
Email: david.green@law.nagoya-u.ac.jp
Office Hours: by appointment
Meeting day and time:
Goals: As students are either already living in Japan or will soon be (depending on the covid
situation), and very likely have some immigration experience, this course should be particularlyrelevant. This course is intended to provide students with an understanding of contemporary
immigration in Japan, including what the situation looks like for various categories ofimmigrants in Japan, any issues they are contending with, and their future prospects.
Objectives: Because students will all have some first-hand experience living in Japan, it isimportant to obtain a better understanding of the society and how immigrants fit into it. Whether
you have foreign roots yourself or are from Japan originally, you should have some personal
relevance in engaging with this topic. Japanese migration is a subject that is not commonly
studied, in spite of the fact that the immigrant population is steadily growing as the Japanese
population ages. Additionally, the issues surrounding growing migration and social aging are notlimited to Japan. Many of the world’s developed and developing countries will experiencesimilarly aging populations and changing migratory flows. Japan happens to be on the cusp, andserves as a lesson for other nations, both positive and negative.
Course Materials:
Weekly readings will be assigned and distributed through the NUCT system.
Quite a bit of course lecture material is taken from a Japanese text: 移民政策のフロンティア：
日本の歩みと課題を問い直す（移民政策学会設立 10 周年論集刊行委員会編）。2018 出版（明石書店）。[Imin seisaku no furontia: Nihon no ayumi to kadai o toi naosu]. You are notexpected to read this text, although if you have some Japanese reading ability and are interested
in the topic, it is recommended.
Requirements for taking the course: No prerequisites are required. However, students shouldhave a good command of the English language and come to class willing to discuss the week’s
topic.
Evaluation Methods:1

30% - Participation (worksheet assignments)
30% - Presentation
40% - Final paper
Class schedule for the Spring 2021 term
Dates: April 12 – August 6
Class 1 – April 14
Course intro/syllabus
Class 2 – April 21
Japanese immigration backgroundReading: “As its population ages, Japan quietly turns to immigration”.
https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/its-population-ages-japan-quietly-turnsimmigration
Recommended (but not required): Yamawaki, Keizo. 2000. Foreign Workers in Japan: aHistorical Perspective. In Japan and Global Migration: Foreign Workers and the Adventof a Multicultural Society, eds. Mike Douglas and Glenda S. Roberts. New York:
Routledge.
Class 3 – April 28
Technical interns & trainees
Reading: Tong, Yaqina. 2019. “The Actuality of Accepting Technical Intern Trainees inJapan and the Reconsideration of the Technical Intern Training Program”. The Bulletin ofthe Center for Research on Regional Economic Systems, Graduate School of Social
Science, Hiroshima University (30): pp. 33-46.
https://ir.lib.hiroshimau.ac.jp/files/public/4/48232/20191101094736999977/RegionalEconomicStudies_30_33.p df
May 5 – Golden week holiday
Class 4 – May 12
Health care workers
Reading: Lan, Pei Chia. 2018. “Bridging Ethnic Differences for Cultural Intimacy:
Production of Migrant Care Workers in Japan”. Critical Sociology 44 (7-8): pp. 1029-43.
PDF will be uploaded to NUCTRecommended (but not required): Lopez, Mario. 2012. “Reconstituting the affective
labour of Filipinos as care workers in Japan”. Global Networks 12 (2): pp. 252-68.
Class 5 – May 19
Students
Reading: Kuwamura, Akira. 2009. “The Challenges of Increasing Capacity and Diversity
in Japanese Higher Education Through Proactive Recruitment Strategies”. Journal ofStudies in International Education 13 (2): pp. 189-202.
2

PDF will be uploaded to NUCTClass 6 – May 26
Refugees
Reading: Dean, Meryll & Miki Nagashima. 2007. “Sharing the Burden: the Role ofGovernment and NGOs in Protecting and Providing for Asylum Seekers and Refugees inJapan”. Journal of Refugee Studies 20 (3): pp. 481-508.
PDF will be uploaded to NUCTClass 7 – June 2
Nikkeijin
Reading: Goto, Junichi. 2016. “Latin Americans of Japanese Origin (Nikkeijin) Working
in Japan: A Survey”. World Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 4302.
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=980821
Class 8 – June 9Zainichi
Reading: Shipper, Apichai. 2010. “Nationalisms of and against Zainichi Koreans inJapan. Asian Politics and Policy 2 (1): pp. 55-75.
PDF will be uploaded to NUCTClass 9 – June 16Immigrant education
Reading: Burgess, Chris. 2011. “(Mis)managing diversity in non-metropolitan publicschools: the lack of state-sponsored support for ‘newcomer’ children. In Tsuneyoshi,
Okano & Boocock (eds.) Minorities and Education in Japan: An interactive perspective.
New York: Routledge.
PDF will be uploaded to NUCTClass 10 – June 23
Immigrant integration
Reading: Nakamatsu, Tomoko. 2014. “Under the Multicultural Flag: Japan’s Ambiguous
Multicultural Framework and its Local Evaluations and Practices”. Journal of Ethnic andMigration Studies 40 (1): pp. 137-54.
PDF will be uploaded to NUCT
Recommended (but not required): Kashiwazaki, Chikako. 2016. “Multicultural Discourseand Policies in Japan: An Assessment of Tabunka Kyosei”. The Gakushuin Journal ofInternational Studies, 3: 1-15.
Class 11 – June 30
Comparisons with other developed countries part I
Immigrant numbers and trends
Class 12 – July 7
Comparisons with other developed countries part II3

Refugee issues, immigrant integration
Class 13 – July 14
Student presentations
Class 14 – July 21
Student presentations
Final papers due4