Gracia Liu-Farrer

Becoming New Overseas Chinese: Transnational Practices and Identity Construction Among the Chinese Migrants in Japan

The Chinese in Japan show two curious characteristics. First, they object to being called ‘immigrants’. Instead, they embrace the identity ‘New Overseas Chinese’, a label invented and popularized by the Chinese in Japan. Second, they prefer permanent residency over naturalization. Although it is generally considered easier to obtain Japanese citizenship than permanent residency, three times as many Chinese immigrants applied and obtained permanent residency as Japanese citizenships between 2003 and 2007. This chapter argues that both the choice of ‘New Overseas Chinese’ identity and the preference for permanent residency in Japan speaks of the Chinese migrants’ desire to maintain a flexible cross-border living and are in congruence with their transnational outlooks. It shows that such desire and outlooks are shaped by the intersections of the social and cultural contexts of Japan and supported by the expanding transnational economy between Japan and China. On the one hand, Chinese migrants’ identifications and transnational outlooks represent their strategies to overcome their marginality in a society they perceive as resistant to immigration and closed to outsiders. On the other hand, Chinese migrants, especially skilled migrants, typically employ their Chinese cultural and linguistic skills in the Japanese labor market and occupy economic positions that have to do with businesses in China. Moreover, with the expanding global economy, the recent Chinese migrants in Japan have begun to interact with older and well-established global overseas Chinese networks. Their economic roles and practices further strengthen their identity as ‘New Overseas Chinese’.

Tied to the family and bound to the labor market: Understanding Chinese student mobility in Japan

This chapter considers the case of Chinese students currently studying in Tokyo to shed light on the mechanisms that have created diverse outcomes of international education. The author examines student mobility from a sociological perspective, interpreting student mobility as a migration process that develops in an interaction between individual migrant characteristics and socio-institutional contexts. Based on students’ narratives, she finds that for the new generation of Chinese students in Japan, labor market conditions and the support from as well as the duty toward the family are particularly important factors that shape students’ mobility.

Migration as Transnational Leisure: The Japanese Lifestyle Migrants in Australia, by Jun Nagatomo

to Grid Parity’ by Karolina Jankowska (Chapter 13); ‘The Norwegian Energy Security Debate: Domestic and International Dimensions’ by Jakub M. Godzimirski (Chapter 6); ‘Smart, but Is It Sustainable?: The Importance of Reconciling Non-Technical Concerns in GridDevelopment Policies’ by Audun Ruud (Chapter 9); ‘Technologies for Electricity Generation in Wind Turbines’ by Bogi Bech Jensen and Tore Undeland (Chapter 7)). The book also has a paper on generic discussion (‘What Is Strategic about Energy?: De-Simplifying Energy Security’ by Gunnar Fermann (Chapter 2)). The combination of these papers enables the reader to acquire a comparative perspective on the issues concerned and to contextualise the country case studies within the global picture. If there is anything to quibble about, it is that the book could have been a little bolder in advancing new ideas and concepts. Although the two main assessment criteria it employs energy security and vested interests make much sense, the findings are largely fact-based and descriptive and, thus, notably complex. The book could have taken even greater advantage of having case studies of multiple countries if it also attempted to extract some new generic ideas and concepts from these rich data. Nonetheless, scholars and students investigating the political economy of renewable energy in Japan and other countries will doubtless benefit immensely from having this excellent empirical volume on their bookshelf.

Chinese Newcomers in Japan: Migration Trends, Profiles and the Impact of the 2011 Earthquake

Since the late-1970s, millions of Chinese have arrived in Japan as students, workers, family members, long-term residents, and undocumented migrant workers. Hundreds of thousands of them have chosen to settle in this country. This paper introduces the major patterns of contemporary migration from China to Japan and describes some characteristics of Chinese migrants, highlighting the transnationality of their socioeconomic practices and settlement orientation. It also discusses the impact of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake on the Chinese community, pointing out that migration decision-making takes into account a complex set of contextual factors. Natural disasters might only be a small part of the causal reasons or a catalyst at best. On the other hand, the shared disaster experience might be an opportunity for migrants to participate in societal building and cultivate a sense of belonging.