Titel: Contemporary Japan 26(2): Call for Papers

Contemporary Japan (CJ) is the biannual journal of the German Institute for Japanese Studies Tokyo (DIJ) published by de Gruyter, Berlin and New York.

Call for Papers: Special Issue "Destination Japan:
Population Aging and International Labor Migration"
Guest Editor: Gabriele Vogt (University of Hamburg)

Japan faces population aging and shrinking. It is in particular the workforce that sees a rapid numerical decline. The manifold challenges that arise from this development are well researched, and so are most of their potential countermeasures. One of these, however, seems to only be marginally present in the discourse about Japan's demographic change, if at all:
the discourse about international labor migration.
De jure Japan does not allow for international labor migration; de facto migration does take place through a variety of (mostly legal) channels. The economic impact of international labor migrants is cherished, yet politics and society largely ignore their existence. What are the reasons behind this prevailing gap?
How does Japan's demographic change impact the nation's migration policy? How are the needs of an aging migrant population addressed?

This special issue focuses on how Japan copes with population aging and a shrinking workforce in an age of accelerated international migration flows.
Authors are invited to submit original conceptual as well as empirical papers, addressing areas such as the ones listed below:

- International labor migration and Japanese discourses of nationhood
- Political framework and/or economic impact of international labor migration to Japan
- De-familization of care-work in Japan and international labor migration
- Trainees, Nikkeijin, and other groups of international migrants in Japan's labor market
- Working and/or living conditions of international migrants in Japan
- Media representation of migrants in Japan

Submission deadline: 31 October 2013; Publication:
Autumn 2014

Contributions should not exceed 8000 words, including references and appendices. For details see our style sheet at www.contemporary-japan.org/.
For inquiries and submission contact

About Contemporary Japan
Contemporary Japan publishes original research from all disciplines as they relate to contemporary Japan or its recent historical development. Manuscripts which cross-disciplinary boundaries and raise larger issues of interest are also welcome, as are approaches rooted in traditional disciplines to under-researched topics. All submissions are peer-reviewed in a double-blind process by established scholars in the field.
The following points set CJ apart from other peer-reviewed journals on Japan:

(1) CJ is open to all kinds of methods from all disciplines.

(2) CJ also welcomes preliminary empirical results as well as innovative theoretical approaches, given that their contribution to
the field of research as well as their place in the relevant literature is thoroughly presented.

(3) CJ maintains a fast review process and promises a timely publication after acceptance.

(4) Submissions are judged purely for content. CJ offers extensive language support for accepted articles, which may be translated from
German or Japanese into English free of charge, given that (a) the material is original research which has not been published in either
language and that (b) the material demonstrates a familiarity with the international literature in the field.

(5) All articles are available free of charge online.