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Research Activities
Institute of Developing Economies>Research Activities>Research Projects >2020 Research Projects>Information sharing mechanism of foreign labor in Japan: Basic research for Covid-19 Prevention in ‘Vulnerable Communities’ (2020_2_60_004)

Research Activities

Research Projects

Information sharing mechanism of foreign labor in Japan: Basic research for Covid-19 Prevention in ‘Vulnerable Communities’ (2020_2_60_004)

Outline

This study is conducted in collaboration with the National Center for Global Health and Medicine (NCGM)’s "Strengthening of the Information Network to Prepare for the Spread of COVID-19 Infections in Foreign Communities in Japan". We focus on the recently increasing numbers of Vietnamese, Burmese, and Nepalese people in Japan. We aim to analyze the mechanism of "information flow", such as who are the origin of information, the influencers, and pivotal transmitters and what is the most reliable media in each of these communities. The communities of people from each of these countries in Japan are divided into multiple sub-communities, among which the flow of information is not always smooth. This contributes to the improper distribution of information. Even though the Japanese national and local governments of each region display information in Vietnamese, Burmese, Nepali, and other languages on their official websites, most of them do not notice and access to those information. Therefore, based on the findings accumulated hitherto, we will put recommendations for the appropriate provision of health, hygiene, and day-to-day information to these communities in Japan. For this purpose, we will delineate the formation of sub-communities in Japan by people from these three countries, in relation to their respective politics, economy, society, and culture. Second, we will propose necessary types of measures to properly provide health, hygiene, and day-to-day information to these sub-communities.

Period

April 2020 - March 2022

Members
[ Organizer ] Sato Hiroshi
[ Co-researcher ] Nakamura Mari
[ Co-researcher ] Takahashi Akio (The University of Tokyo, Institute for Advanced Studies on Asia, Professor)
[ Co-researcher ] Tanaka Masako (Sophia University, Faculty of Global Studies, Professor)
[ Co-researcher ] Kato Jotaro (Waseda University, Comprehensive Research Organization Institute of
Asian Migrations, Research Associate)
[ Co-researcher ] Choi Sooyeon (Solidarity Network with Migrants Japan)
[ Co-researcher ] Nii Midori (Citizen’s Network for Global Activities, Coordinator)
[ Co-researcher ] Hiromu Fukai
Expected Outcome