A Panel Survey on International Migrants in Japan

2020 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17H04785
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (A)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Research Field: Sociology
• Research Institution: National Institute of Population and Social Security Research
• Principal Investigator: Korekawa Yu 国立社会保障・人口問題研究所, 国際関係部, 部長 (40603626)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2021-03-31
• Keywords: 移民研究 / 教育を通じた移住過程 / 留学生 / 社会的統合 / 日本語学校

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The present study focused on international students at Japanese language schools and conducted a large-scale social survey on their socio-economic status in their country of origin. As a result, it revealed that they mainly belong to an upper-middle-class living in large cities in their country of origin. It also delved into their participation in the part-time works and their economic resources and clarified that their primary economic source is remittance from their family in their country of origin, rather than sending the money to their family vise verse: Just 30% of them send a certain amount of money to their family. In the mid-term, they want to study in a higher educational institute in Japan to obtain a job and work in Japan. In addition, it could construct a 4-year-longitudinal data on their migratory process. Thus, it concluded that Japanese language schools play an essential part in the educational channeled migratory process (ECMP) to Japan.

Free Research Field

社会人口学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

日本語学校で学ぶ留学生については明確な根拠を欠いているにもかかわらず、アルバイトを目的とした「偽装留学生」とされるなど、毀誉褒貶にさらされる中、本研究において留学生の来日前の状況やその後の生活状況、今後の展望について定量的に明らかにしたことの意義は大きい。さらに本研究ではこうした事実について、前例を見ない最長で４年間のパネルデータの構築したことでより精緻な分析を可能にした。また、これは教育を通じた移住過程という、先進諸国において重要性を増すプロセスに関してその内実やメカニズムを明らかにしたという点でも重要である。