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Social inclusion and integration of diversity: Employers, newcomer migrant workers, and community response in Japan

Research Project

Project/Area Number 19K02142
Research Category

Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)

Allocation TypeMulti-year Fund
Section一般
Review Section Basic Section 08010:Sociology-related
Research InstitutionWaseda University

Principal Investigator

Roberts Glenda S.  早稲田大学, 国際学術院(アジア太平洋研究科), 教授 (40308242)

Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) 藤田 典子  早稲田大学, 国際学術院(アジア太平洋研究センター), その他(招聘研究員) (30898341)
Project Period (FY) 2019-04-01 – 2022-03-31
Project Status Completed (Fiscal Year 2021)
Budget Amount *help
¥2,470,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,900,000、Indirect Cost: ¥570,000)
Fiscal Year 2021: ¥910,000 (Direct Cost: ¥700,000、Indirect Cost: ¥210,000)
Fiscal Year 2020: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000)
Fiscal Year 2019: ¥780,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000、Indirect Cost: ¥180,000)
KeywordsMigration / Foreign workers / Agriculture / Japan / Social inclusion / social inclusion / migrant workers / community / integration
Outline of Research at the Start

Japan is gradually becoming a nation that depends on diverse migrant labor. It is important to integrate immigrant populations into society early to avoid the later conflicts and mutual mistrust found elsewhere.This study will investigate the social inclusion of migrants at multiple levels. At a time when the Japanese government is expanding the categories and lengths of stay of migrant workers to ease the labor shortages accompanying drastic population decline, this project seeks to understand how newcomer migrant labor will be welcomed and integrated into the workplace and the community.

Outline of Final Research Achievements

We have been interested in how foreign workers in agriculture are viewed by their employers, their handlers, and the communities where they reside. We wanted to know how stakeholders were utilizing the new Specified Skilled Worker (SSW) system being put in place from 2019, and how they were coordinating the new system with the existing system of TITP. Ultimately, we hoped to better understand the place of foreign workers in Japan’s agriculture, which is facing a severe demographic decline that threatens Japan’s food security. Over 3 years we visited poultry, dairy, vegetable, fruit, and cut flower farms multiple times, in Aichi and Kyoto prefectures, as well as the construction business owners. From these employers, we learned that foreign labor power is necessary to all phases of production. While they are willing to mechanize to an extent, many jobs need human hands to accomplish. The farmers in our study saw foreign workers as extremely valuable.

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

日本の農業の未来は、危機的状況にある。就農人口の高齢化と国全体の人口構造変化の影響を受け、深刻な労働力不足に陥っている。本研究が明らかにしたのは、農家は外国人の労働力に頼らざるを得ないにもかかわらず、誰をどのように、どのくらいの期間雇用する(できる)のか不確かな状況を強いられたり、また昨今の法改正により外国人が長期間滞在する可能性が高まったにもかかわらず、彼らの長期的な能力開発や地域への包摂という重要な課題についても現場に丸投げされていることだ。本研究は移民研究や移民政策をはじめとし、日本社会の労働、社会変化、地方活性化等の領域にも貢献すると考える。

Report

(4 results)
  • 2021 Annual Research Report   Final Research Report ( PDF )
  • 2020 Research-status Report
  • 2019 Research-status Report
  • Research Products

    (5 results)

All 2022 2021 2020 2019

All Journal Article (1 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 1 results,  Open Access: 1 results) Presentation (4 results) (of which Int'l Joint Research: 3 results,  Invited: 1 results)

  • [Journal Article] Policy and Politics of Migration Post 19452019

    • Author(s)
      Laurence Lessard-Phillips, Glenda Roberts and Jenny Phillimore
    • Journal Title

      IRIS Working Paper Series no. 34 2019

      Volume: 34 Pages: 3-29

    • Related Report
      2019 Research-status Report
    • Open Access / Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Foreign Migrant Workers as Immediate Fighting Power2022

    • Author(s)
      Roberts, Glenda S. and Noriko FUJITA
    • Organizer
      Association for Asian Studies
    • Related Report
      2021 Annual Research Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Stakeholders, short-term labor schemes and social inclusion in Japan: new schemes new practices? (revised version)2021

    • Author(s)
      Roberts, Glenda S. and Noriko Fujita
    • Organizer
      Association for Asian Studies (USA)
    • Related Report
      2020 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research
  • [Presentation] Stakeholders, short-term labor schemes and social inclusion in Japan: new schemes, new practices?2020

    • Author(s)
      Roberts, G.S. and Noriko Fujita
    • Organizer
      Chiba University, "Migration and Refugee Studies for Constructing Multicultural Japan"
    • Related Report
      2020 Research-status Report
    • Invited
  • [Presentation] Stake-holders, Short-term Labor Schemes, and Social Inclusion in Japan: New Schemes, New Practices?2019

    • Author(s)
      Glenda Roberts and Noriko Fujita
    • Organizer
      New and Old Diversity Exhange (NODE) UK-Japan Network
    • Related Report
      2019 Research-status Report
    • Int'l Joint Research

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Published: 2019-04-18   Modified: 2023-01-30  

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