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

Photo by Patrick Campbell/University of Colorado

Download

Venue

DIJ Tokyo (access)

Registration Info

This is a past event. Registration is no longer possible.

The DIJ Study Group is a forum for scholars from all disciplines conducting research on contemporary or modern Japan. The event is open to all. This session is organized by Barbara Holthus.

This is a public event. Please be aware that audio-visual recordings may be made, stored, and published during and after the event.

DIJ Mailing Lists

Please subscribe below to stay informed about our research activities, events & publications:

[mo_verify_email]

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

October 29, 2026 / 6.30 pm (JST)

Xiaoling CHEN, National University of Singapore/DIJ 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 premised 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 situated 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 employed 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, the presentation shared preliminary findings on the decision-making processes and rationales of Chinese businesspeople and professionals. It highlighted the population’s heterogeneity while examining the uncertainties, dilemmas, and precarity they navigate. The speaker explored 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.

Xiaoling CHEN (陳暁玲) is an interdisciplinary scholar and ethnographer trained in biotechnology, anthropology, and human geography. Currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, her research examines the role of infrastructure in China’s COVID-19 response and Chinese multidirectional mobility. Her work provides both in-depth domestic insights into China and comparative perspectives across China, Singapore, Japan, and the “West.” She has published in international journals and edited volumes, such as Critical Asian Studies, Eurasian Geography and Economics, Made in China, and Human Organization. As a Global Indo-Pacific Mobility Fellow, funded by the Max Weber Stiftung, she is currently visiting the DIJ.