講座資訊｜Mario Lopez：日本的“怨懟”之夏：移民、道德恐慌以及對“必要”的反思

Title

Japan’s Summer of Discontent: Migrants, Moral Panic, and Rethinking what is “Essential”

Date & Time

Wednesday, 5 November 2025, 12:00–13:00 (Japan Time)

Venue

Seminar Room (I213), 2nd Floor, Inamori Center, Kyoto University

Format

In-person only

Title:Japan’s Summer of Discontent: Migrants, Moral Panic, and Rethinking what is “Essential”

題目： 日本的“ 怨懟 ”之夏：移民、道德恐慌以及對“必要”的反思

Speaker:Mario Lopez (CSEAS Kyoto University）

演講者：Mario Lopez（京都大學東南亞研究中心）

【Abstract】

The summer of 2025 marked Japan’s own “summer of discontent,” as far-right parties stoked moral panic over migration and national identity while the state has clung to piecemeal, market-driven immigration reforms. At the same time, a deepening demographic crisis has pushed the care sector—reliant on migrant labour—to the forefront. This has made the contradictions of Japan’s migration visible: foreign workers, mainly for Southeast Asia, are increasingly indispensable, yet their role remains sidelined in public debates. What lessons can be drawn from the experiences of the care sector—one that is absorbing large numbers of skilled workers from Southeast Asia? Drawing on fieldwork in care homes and training colleges, this presentation explores the challenges that migrant workers and Japanese employers face in providing care to an aging Japanese population. Ultimately, foreign care workers are essential participants in maintaining contemporary Japanese society and their contributions demand a rethink of “essential work.”

【內容提要】

2025年的夏天堪稱日本的“怨懟”之夏，極右翼政黨煽動對移民和民族認同的道德恐慌，而政府卻堅持零碎的、市場驅動的移民改革。與此同時，日益加劇的人口危機將依賴移民勞動力的護理行業推到了風口浪尖。這使得日本受容外來移民的矛盾問題凸顯出來：主要源自東南亞，大量從事服務業的外籍務工人員日益不可或缺，但他們的作用在公共辯論中卻被邊緣化。從護理行業——一個正在吸收大量來自東南亞的技術工人的行業——的經驗中，我們可以汲取哪些教訓？本次演講基于在日本養老院和培訓學院的實地田野考察，探討了移民務工人員和日本雇主在為日本老齡人口提供護理方面面臨的挑戰。歸根結底，外籍護理人員是維護當代日本社會的重要參與者，他們的貢獻要求我們重新思考“必要工作”的概念。

【Bio】

Mario Lopezis Associate Professor at the Center for Southeast Asia Studies (CSEAS) Kyoto University. He has published widely on aging populations, demographic change and care migration in Southeast Asia and Asia-Pacific. He co-edited the volume Environmental Resources Use and Challenges in Contemporary, Southeast Asia (Springer)and an edited collection on Human, Nature, & Society: The Multidisciplinary Study of Southeast Asia (Insist press). He currently sits on a government commission under the Japanese Ministry of Justice (MoJ) to inform the Immigration Services Agency (ISA) on reforms to its migration procedures.

【主講人簡介】

Mario Lopezis是京都大學東南亞研究中心（CSEAS）副教授。其研究涉及東南亞及亞太地區的人口老齡化、人口結構變化和照護移民等問題。他參與編輯了《當代東南亞的環境資源利用與挑戰》（Springer出版社）一書，以及《人類、自然與社會：東南亞多學科研究》（Insist出版社）一文集。他目前擔任日本法務省（MoJ）下屬政府委員會委員，負責向出入國在留管理廳（ISA）提供有關移民程序改革的信息。

Commentator

Yunchen Tian (Specially Appointed Associate Professor, Graduate School of Law, Kyoto University)

評議人

Yunchen Tian （京都大學法學院特聘副教授）

講座信息來源：京都大學東南亞研究中心（CSEAS）官網

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