Our next session, on Thursday October 27, is in the interesting field of migration sociology.** Presenting will be Ruth Achenbach, a PhD candidate in Japanese Studies at the University of Hamburg. She is at the German Institute for Japanese Studies for her second three-month period of fieldwork.

Ruth has interviewed quite a few Chinese, born in the one-child-policy era, who came to Japan after graduating from university to go to school and then work in skilled jobs. She asks about their attitudes toward living in Japan and their social position in Japanese society, as these change in the transition from education to working. It appears the patterns have evolved somewhat in recent years. Her explanations are to a small extent grounded in rational choice models and to a larger extent in capital theory, including financial, social, human and cultural capital. Incidentally, Ruth will soon be visiting China to talk to migrants who decided to return, which will provide interesting comparisons.

I appreciate your letting me know if you are coming though it is not necessary. Incidentally, the following meeting will be a week early from our normal schedule, on November 17, and there will be no session in December.

jc

*Meetings of the Shaken Social Science Dissertation Workshop start at 12 pm and go to 1:30 and sometimes beyond. The Institute of Social Science provides coffee and tea and you are welcome to bring lunch. The location is a seminar room on the 5th floor in the Akamon General Research (Sougou Kenkyuu) Building.
The building is down a little passage to the right
after you come through Akamon. For a map, go to:

http://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/campusmap/cam01_08_02_e.html
__________________________
>From John Creighton Campbell