Chinese Workers Flee Japan’s Controversial Work-Training System Unscrupulous agents in China are luring workers into overseas placements with low pay and poor conditions. An article about the Technical Internship Training Programme and the experiences of Chinese trainees focusing on the story of one Chinese trainee, Zhuo Liang. Sixth Tone Mar 6, 2019.
Media stews over growing Chinese numbers in Japan This article reports on how the Chinese population in Japan has been reported in the Japanese media and also provides an overview of the numbers of Chinese people in Japan and where they live. Japan Times, 14 Jul 2018.
Nagoya service aids aging Chinese lost in translation A Nagoya-based nonprofit organization has started a free translation service to support elderly Chinese residents having trouble with Japan’s nursing care insurance system because of the language barrier and lack of knowledge. Japan Times, 20 Jun 2016.
Little China’ replaces sleaze spot in Saitama, but gripes linger This article looks at the Chinatwon that has developied around Nishikawaguchi station, with many restaurants, replacing the older Japanese sex industry that was there. It also gives information about the Chinese and foreign populations in Kawaguchi City. Asahi Shimbun, 6 May, 2017.
Love thy neighbor? Chinese nationals who call Japan home This article looks at the experiences of Chinese people who have become long-term residents of Japan, and who work as business people, lawyers, and in the Japanese government. It considers their feelings about Japan, and the challenges of raising children with foreign roots here, as well as their work experiences. Japan Times,14 Feb 2015.
The island looking to China for brides Japan's population has been gradually ageing and shrinking for several years. Remote communities far from the big cities are feeling the changes most - places such as Shiraishi-jima, which now has 5 Chinese brides, one of hundreds of small islands which dot the Seto Inland Sea. Japan Times, 20 Jul 2014.
The Chinese residents who call Japan home This article looks at Chinese 'trainees', working in agriculture in Japan and at the experience of Leena, a Chinese model who came to Japan when she was 10 years old. BBC News, 13 Aug 2013.
Skilled and Unskilled Chinese Migrants in Japan: Context and perspectives By Hélène Le bail, Les Cahiers d'Ebisu, 2013. This article compares the immigration of skilled Chinese workers and students mainly to urban centres such as Tokyo with the immigration of unskilled workers on the technical intern programme and as wives of Japanese men, focusing mainly on the latter. It also looks at broad trends in immigration in Japan.
The New Chinese Immigration to Japan: Between mobility and integration By Hélène Le Bail, China Perspectives, 2005. This article compares oldcomer and newcomer Chinese immigration to Japan and focuses on the latter, looking in particular at networks of student migration, at transnational entrepreneurs and at expatriates, and discussing what implications these new types of immigration have for issues of citizenship and naturalisation.
Asian trainees keep Kawaguchi’s furnaces blasting An old article from 2002 that explains the situation of Vietnamese and Chinese trainees working in metal casting furnaces, which makes clear how these trainees have been used as a source of labour by Japanese companies because of the shortage of Japanese workers. Japan Times, 10 Jul 2002.
Chinese people in Japan Chinese people in Japan, also referred to as Kakyo (literally Chinese sojourners) or Zai-Nichi Chugokujin (literally Chinese people resident in Japan) have a history going back for centuries or even millennia.Wikipedia.
Dry-cleaning company boss reported to prosecutors over treatment of Chinese trainees The Kofu Labor Standards Inspection Office has sent documents to public prosecutors accusing a dry-cleaning company president of violating labor and wage laws by making Chinese trainees work for pay below the minimum wage. Mainichi Daily News, April 21, 2009.
>>> More on the trainee system in foreign workers and residents in Japan >>>
Labour Dynamics: Foreign permanent residents on rise, filling gaps Japan's population started declining in 2005, but in contrast, registered foreigners soared to a record high 2.01 million, a leap from 1.36 million a decade ago and accounting for 1.57 percent of the nation's total population. This article looks in particular at the situation of Chinese permanent residents - the bigest group pf people applying for permanent residency recently - and focuses on Eika Ma, a Chinese woman with permanent residency who is president of a small company in Tokyo, also works as a lawyer, and who is married to Swedish man. Japan Times, Jan. 3, 2007.
The New Japanese Worker is Chinese Although tension between Japan and China has risen recently, there are more and more Chinese workers in Japan these days. This article lookks at the reasons for ths increase and the situation of Chinese workers, mainly students who have jobs and people on the industrial training scheme. New York Times, Nov 14, 2012.
Chinese forced labor suit rejected The Fukuoka High Court on Monday dismissed a damages suit against the government and two companies by 45 Chinese who were forced to work as laborers in Japan during World War II. The court acknowledged that forcibly taking the Chinese to coal mines in Fukuoka Prefecture was an illegal act committed jointly by the government and the companies. However, it noted that individual Chinese have no right to demand war reparations from Japan due to a postwar agreement. Japan Times, March 10, 2009.
Chinese teenager to remain in Japan: Family of illegal immigrants to be deported; boy gets provisional stay The Osaka Regional Immigration Bureau decided Tuesday to allow the teenage son of a family of illegal Chinese immigrants to stay in the country for one more month, officials said. Zhou Pengyu, 16, currently attending a public high school in Osaka, will be allowed to stay in the country on a provisional basis, but his family will be deported immediately, the officials said. Japan Times, June 12, 2002.
Yokohama Chinatown: Wikipedia article
Tokyo's new overseas Chinese community thriving: "When speaking of overseas Chinese in Japan, most people immediately conjure up images of Yokohama's Chinatown, Chinese restaurants, barbershops and tailors. But increasingly, Japan's new wave of Chinese immigrants is a breed apart from their Chinatown cousins..."
New link added 09 May 2018 “Place making” in Kawakami: aspirations and migrant realities of Chinese “technical interns” by Meng Liang. This academic article examines Chinese agricultural labor migrants’ experiences in rural Japan, mainly in Kawakami, a village located in central Japan. It goes beyond the labeling of Chinese migrants as passive victims of difficult work conditions and exploitation, and argues that Chinese peasant workers possess an agency to negotiate, navigate, and survive in the village, making their own 'places' there and creating social networks to support themselves. Contemporary Japan, 2014.
Liu-Farrer, G. (2009) ‘Creating transnational community: Chinese newcomers in Japan’, in M. Weiner, (Ed). Japan's minorities: the illusion of homogeneity. 2nd Edition. London: Routledge. Available from: Chuo Library 開架 301.45/J35.
Vaisihth, A. (1997). 'A model minority: The Chinese community in Japan', in M. Weiner (Ed). Japan's minorities: the illusion of homogeneity. 1st Edition. London: Routledge. Available from: Chuo Library 総合政策 301.45/J35 & Mike. Looks at the history of Chinese immigration to Japan from the first half of the 19th century to the early 1990s, and at Japanese attitudes to China and China immigrants.
The Increasing Presence of Chinese Migrants in Japan: "Chinese migrants have the longest history of any migrant group in Japan. They are also remarkable for their numbers, forming the second largest group in Japan today after Koreans. The population of Chinese in Japan is growing rapidly, and may exceed that of Koreans to become the biggest group in the near future...", By Tien-shi Chen, National Museum of Ethnology, 2008.
The New Chinese Immigration to Japan: Between mobility and integration by Hélène Le Bail, 2005. Over the past two decades, Chinese students in large numbers have settled in Japan, creating a Chinese community whose members are highly qualified and economically well integrated into society. Japan’s new Chinese residents are intellectuals by profession. Their lifestyle and the way they present themselves set them apart from traditional immigrants. The article uses the concepts of “transnational entrepreneurs” and “expatriates” to account for the connections they maintain with China and Japan. China Perspectives, 2005