By the end of 2025, the number of Chinese nationals residing in Japan increased to 930,396, accounting for 22.55% of all foreign nationals. Notably, Tokyo hosts one-third of this population, many of whom hold skilled and elite residence status. This research premises on the conceptualization of immigration decision-making as a process shaped by past and ongoing lived experiences in countries of origin and destination, alongside comparisons with the “West” and its imaginaries. It situates Chinese mobility against a backdrop of geopolitical, economic, and sociocultural volatility, marked by evolving US–China tensions, authoritarian resurgence, and shifting immigration politics. Drawing on participant observation and in-depth semi-structured interviews, this presentation shares preliminary findings on the decision-making processes and rationales of Chinese business people and professionals. It highlights the population’s heterogeneity while examining the uncertainties, dilemmas, and precarity they navigate. Details and registration here

This two-day symposium explores the critical transition from the 1930s to the 1960s, a period marked by colonization, war, and postwar reconstruction in East Asia. Focusing on Japan, Korea and Taiwan, the event highlights the intertwined development of medicine, science, and technology across imperial legacies, Cold War geopolitics, and rapid modernization. Bringing together 14 historians of science, technology, and medicine, the conference seeks to uncover how shared histories and divergent paths shaped state-building, institutional reform, and knowledge production in these nations. Through comparative and transnational perspectives, the symposium invites new insights into the collaborative and contested processes that defined, and still define, the region’s future. The symposium takes place on September 17 and 18 online and on-site at the DIJ. It is organized by DIJ’s Dolf-Alexander Neuhaus, Bernhard Leitner (Medical University of Vienna), and Nicolas Schillinger (University of Duisburg-Essen). Details and registration here

The project Serial Solitudes: Audiovisual Cultures of Loneliness and Belonging in Contemporary Japan starts from the assumption that loneliness is not only an individual psychological experience, but also a socially and culturally shaped phenomenon articulated through different forms of knowledge. It therefore combines two forms of discourse analysis: scholarly debates on loneliness and audiovisual representations in films and television series. This presentation introduces the project at an early stage to discuss its methodological design. A key challenge is gaining systematic access to Japanese vocabulary and literature on loneliness without reducing the field to familiar concepts such as hikikomori or kodokushi. To address this, a source-based text-mining workflow supported by language models is being developed around sixty Japanese books, supplemented by Japanese translations of influential Western works. The presentation will outline the workflow, show preliminary examples, and invite discussion of its possibilities and limitations. Details and registration here