Lunch event with Prof. Dr. David Chiavacci, Institute of Asian and Oriental Studies, University of Zurich, 24 November 2015

New Migration & Migration Policy in Japan

Japan might not be the first countries that comes to our minds when thinking of migration; foreign residents represent less than 2% of the population. However, as David Chiavacci, Mercator Professor in Social Science of Japan, demonstrated in his lunch talk on “New Migration & Migration Policy in Japan”, Japan has turned into a new immigration country, and is as such structurally dependent on foreign workers in particular in the export industry. Secondly, Japan’s role needs to be seen in the broader context of the East Asia migration region. Finally, Prof. Chiavacci deconstructed the “Japan” case by highlighting how fragmented the migration debate and policymaking is.