Dear SSJ-Forum members,

It is my pleasure to share this upcoming event in the Kobe Migration Research Center (KoMiReC) regular seminar series: "Aspiring to stay? Prolonged stay-ing processes of high-skilled migrants in Japan", with guest speakers Dr Aimi Muranaka and Dr Helena Hof.

Please see further details below and in the flyer.

Date and time: November 22, 2024 (17:00)

Venue: Kobe University, Tsurukabuto 1st Campus, E401 - 大会議室 (in-person only)
Presenters: Dr Helena Hof (University of Zurich / Max Planck Institute for the Study of Religious and Ethnic Diversity) and Dr Aimi Muranaka (Institute of East-Asian Studies, Duisburg-Essen University)

Commentator: Dr Špela Drnovšek Zorko (Kobe University, Faculty of Intercultural Studies)

"Aspiring to stay? Prolonged stay-ing processes of high-skilled migrants in Japan"

Japan has seen a rise of immigration, including high-skilled migrants, yet scholarship has found that the country is unattractive for the high-skilled to (aspire to) stay long-term. Drawing from two sub-projects of a collaborative research on high-skilled migration in Asia, one on Vietnamese IT professionals (Muranaka) and one on foreign startup founders (Hof), this presentation foregrounds that despite the social, economic, and visa-related challenges high-skilled migrants face in Japan, some migrants seek to settle in the host society permanently, while others end up staying regardless of their initial intentions to move on. The presentation uses additional video material to discuss the intricated dynamics of high-skilled migrants' stay-ing processes in Japan, shaped by migrants' evolving aspirations of incorporation and spatial immobility. 

Please sign up via the following form (walk-ins are also welcome): https://bit.ly/aspiringtostay-hof-muranaka