Chapter 1: Introduction

Recent narratives surrounding Japan in the context of migration studies have labelled it an ‘emerging migration state’ and debated its reluctant transition into being a ‘country of immigration’. Following its history of isolationism, there has been a gradual increase in mobility since the end of the Meiji Period. There are nearly three million migrants out of the 126 million people living in Japan, which is triple the number in 1990. The purpose of the current immigration regime is to deter f...