“Walking on Two Legs”: Decision-Making among High-Skilled and Elite Chinese Immigrants in Tokyo

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—in this study, the PRC and Japan, respectively—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.

In light of these dynamics, this project employs longitudinal multi-sited, multi-scalar ethnographic research to provide comparative perspectives across China, Japan, and the “West.” Drawing on participant observation and in-depth semi-structured interviews in Tokyo, this presentation shares preliminary findings on the decision-making processes and rationales of Chinese businesspeople and professionals. It highlights the population’s heterogeneity while examining the uncertainties, dilemmas, and precarity they navigate. Ultimately, I look forward to engaging with the Study Group to explore theoretical frameworks for effectively conceptualizing the co-constitution of mobility and agency on the one hand, and infrastructural development and social transformation on the other.