Migration Channels and the Shaping of Immigrant Ethno-Scapes

This chapter explains that migration is a collective action orchestrated by different actors, both human and nonhuman, that either facilitate or hamper mobility. It presents the demographic and residential profiles of the major immigrant groups in Japan. The chapter then categorizes the channels and processes of migration that have helped shape such particular demographic profiles of Japan's immigrants. These channels include side doors for the importation of “unskilled workers” and selective talent programs for skilled migrants; marriage migration; and the expanding networks of global mobility such as student exchange programs, research collaborations, and recruitment agencies. The chapter uses the logic of different dimensions of this migration infrastructure to discuss the particular outcomes of different types of migration.