Immigration and Quality of Life in Ageing Societies

This edited book argues that a new perspective on immigration is needed. As many advanced economies are ageing, and their populations stagnate or decline, immigrants are increasingly required to fill in the gaps left behind by shrinking workforces. Against this backdrop, the outdated view that it is - and can only be - a privilege for immigrants to move temporarily from less to more developed economies needs a rethink. In particular, questions about how attractive a host destination can be for immigrants; not just in economic, but also in social, political, linguistic, and cultural terms should be raised. Considering in detail the situation in Japan and Germany - Japan where there are hardly any convenience stores without foreign employees, Germany where retirement homes would no longer function without foreign nursing staff - the book analyses migration to these two countries in different aspects such as education, training, and labour market participation, and policies and actions on the part of the state and policymakers in rendering moving to and living in these countries worthwhile. Bringing together leading scholars active in diverse aspects of migration in Japan and Germany, this book will be a valuable resource to students and scholars with an interest in immigration issues in these two countries specifically, and Europe and Asia more broadly.

Aeneas Zi Wang is an Associate Professor at the School of Social and Behavioural Sciences, Nanjing University, China. Aimi Muranaka is a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany. Florian Coulmas is a Senior Professor at the Institute of East Asian Studies, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany.

1. Attractive immigrants or attractive for immigrants? Two ageing societies and migration, Aeneas Zi Wang 2. Immigration-related language policy in Germany, Christoph Schroeder 3. Multi-language service as omotenashi and tatemae: Japanese local governments' challenges and limitations, Yoshiyuki Asahi 4. Does easy language promote integration? Japanese and German perspectives, Goro Christoph Kimura 5. The gravitation of "authentic" arts: Field-specific logics of visual art and music students' mobility, Takuma Fujii 6. The myth of Vietnamese IT and engineering professionals being "shin-nichi"? Their short-term participation in the Japanese labour market, Aimi Muranaka 7. Spurwechsel in German migration policy, Christian Joppke 8. Promised (Deutsch)land? West Germany's attractiveness as a migration destination for the Greeks in the 1960s, Maria Adamopoulou 9. Changes and continuity in Japan's deportation regime, Toake Endoh 10. Japan's Technical Intern Training Programme as transnational total institution: Between exploitation and functionality, David Chiavacci 11. Coming to terms with a changing reality, Florian Coulmas