While immigration to Japan has grown steadily in recent years, Japan is still characterized by a restrictive immigration policies and a political discourse that rejects immigration. Meanwhile, on the ground immigration is definitely happened, as more and more immigrants claim Japan as their home. Join Gracia Liu-Farrer, author of “Immigrant Japan: Mobility and Belonging in and Ethno-nationalist Society,” and Michael Strausz, author of “Help (Not) Wanted: Immigration Politics in Japan,” for a discussion of the political and social forces that shape immigration in Japan, immigrants’ rights and roles in society, and an assessment of Japanese immigration in comparative perspective.

Speakers:
• Gracia Liu-Farrer, Professor of Sociology, Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies, Waseda University
• Michael Strausz, Associate Professor of Political Science, Texas Christian University
• Ulrike Schaede, Professor and Director of the Japan Forum for Innovation and Technology, GPS UC San Diego