Dissertation Project Qin (Abstract)

Reaching out to Japan’s Affinity Diaspora

(Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Gabriele Vogt)

Abstract

In 2000, 64,011 international students were studying in Japan. This number almost five-folded in 2019, reaching an all-time high of 312,214. Since Prime Minister Fukuda announced the “300,000 International Students Plan” in 2008, the inbound international students have been expected to “continue to live and work in Japan after graduation”. In the 2010s, the Abe Shinzō administration introduced a series of immigration-related policy reforms. As these young students, 94.6% of whom are from Asia, enter Japanese society, they provide a vibrant workforce for Japan’s aging labor market, ranging from migrant workers to high-skilled professionals. Aware of this remarkable trend, recent discussions in Japan Studies have focused on attracting/retaining more international talents in Japan and on taking these opportunities presented by its growing diversity for the Japanese host society.

The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology (MEXT) recognizes that the retention effect has improved as the rate of international graduates employed domestically increased from 25.3% (2008) to 36.9% (2019). However, from the reverse perspective, it can be estimated that the absolute number of international students who were not retained in the Japanese domestic job market also increased in a numerical sense. Although little is known about the part of this group of international students who left Japan after graduation, evidence shows that they can be considered the affinity diaspora of Japan and are reached by Japan-sponsored agencies through its de facto affinity diaspora strategy.

This PhD thesis questions the state’s wholehearted stance on accepting and retaining international student immigrants and suggests that Japan values the so-called affinity diasporas who are leaving or already overseas, at least no less, if not more than it does to the issue of attracting student migrants to Japan. This research project attempts to answer why does Japan foster its affinity diaspora to leave the country and how can they be reached through affinity diaspora strategy afterward? It also strives to identify the involved actors who might (re)shape its operation in the 21st century.