17th Annual International Conference on Japanese Studies
Japan:
Age in a Time of Precariousness
Asian Center, University of the Philippines- Diliman
International Studies Department, De La Salle
University
Japanese Studies Program, Ateneo de Manila
University
In Cooperation with the
Gender and Development Program
University of the Philippines-Visayas
DATES: 1-2 February, 2019
VENUE: Casa Real de Iloilo, Iloilo City
OVERVIEW:
Population ageing is a phenomenon that has
been affecting developed countries and other parts of the world. The
phenomenon exists through several reasons such as availability of the efficient
food distribution to materialize better nutrient supplies and advance medical
technology. It causes decrease in workforce, delay in social services, and aggravate
social security burden on the working population. It therefore brings about stagnation
of the national economy and loss of vitality of culture and society. It is
an increasingly researched topic by scholars around the world.
Japan is a focal point in ageing studies. It
is labeled as a “super-ageing society” owing to the high ratio of its aged
population and low fertility rates. Shoshi Koreika ( 少子高齢化)
is a term used by most scholars to describe this phenomenon of fast-paced aging
in Japan that likewise affects other demographic sectors. Predicting the aging
problems, the Japanese government officially started importing foreign labor in
the 1970s. The decreasing national population has posed major implications on Japanese
society, economy and polity.
The phenomenon has wide ranging effects not
only on Japan’s domestic affairs but also on its international relations. Japan’s need for
healthcare workers has affected the Philippines’ healthcare industry as well as
education, labor and immigration policies. Triggered by the Japan-Philippines
Economic Agreement that included healthcare worker to categories of labor
migrants, nursing and care-giving schools offering Japanese language training
courses have mushroomed in the 1990s, while housekeepers and trainees have
recently being launched. In Indonesia, the recruitment and (return) migration
of Indonesian nurses trained as careworkers have posed challenges to both
Indonesian labor market, and Japan-Indonesian economic partnerships. Many
migrant nurses and caregivers face precarious situations in many workplaces in
Japan that either are not ready to accept or neglect these workers hired to
take care of Japanese in a precarious state. Such precarity in Japan,
associated with various forms of insecurity, risk, ambivalence and
vulnerability on one hand, may also give impetus for introducing significant
changes in structures, policies and experiences on the other.
This conference examines the politics of age in
the context of Japan’s changing social, political, economic, and cultural
dynamics. Since the collapse of the economy in the 1990s, Japanese, across all
ages and genders, adapt to lifestyles that attempt to overcome states of
vulnerability. Japan’s decreasing birth rates and growing elderly population
spark questions surrounding a demographic that can uplift Japan from its
precarity. These questions also raise the contributions of indigenous, migrant,
and divergent populations as they deal with precariousness in diverse ways.
Thus, in this conference, scholars engage with age as a critical lens in the
analysis of different issues surrounding Japan’s precarious state.
PROGRAMME
Day
1: 1 February 2019
Venue:
Casa Real de Iloilo
8:30 Registration and
Coffee Break
9:00 Welcome Remarks
Ricardo P. Babaran
Chancellor
Gender and Development Program, University of the Philippines-Visayas
Opening Remarks
Joefe Santarita
Dean
Asia Center, University of the Philippines-Diliman
9:30-11:00
Plenary Session 1
"Aging
in Japan: Gender, Intersectionality and Transnational Political Economy"
Vera
Mackie, University of Wollongong
“The Precariousness of retiring overseas: Reflections from
studying Japanese retirees in Southeast Asia and Australia.”
Thang
Leng Leng, National University of Singapore
11:00-12:30 Lunch
12:30-13:30 Paper
Session 1 - Precarity and Gender
“Women and Feminism in Japanese Literature”
Lisa
Rogers, Doshisha Women’s College of Liberal Arts
“No Longer a “Weekend Heroine:” Momoiro Clover Z and Female Struggle
in Japanese Patriarchal Society”
Astera
Khirana, University of Indonesia
13:30
– 13:45 Coffee Break
13:45
– 14:45 Paper Session 2 - Precarity and Modernity
“On the Street Corner
of iron City: Gendered Process of Aging in Modern Japan”
Yoshiya
Makita, Koji Murata, Maria Yonemura and Yuu Takagi, Ritsumeikan University
“Precarious Japan: Understanding the Freeter Phenomenon beyond
Government Policies”
Michaela
I. Navato, University of the Philippines, Diliman
14:50
- 15:50: Paper Session 3 - Filipino Precarity in Japan
“Filipino Domestic
Workers to Japan: Issues and Concerns”
Maria
Rosario Piquero-Ballescas, Orlando Ballescas and Hiroya Takamatsu, Toyo
University
“From
childcare facilities to nannies: An analysis of childcare in Japan”
Girlie
Anne Miradora, University of the Philippines, Diliman
16:00:
Housekeeping Announcements
Day
2: 2 February 2019
Venue:
Casa Real de Iloilo
8:30
Registration and Coffee Break
9:00
– 9:50 Plenary Session 2
“Japan in Transition from Homogeneity to Diversity: Does Diversity Include Foreigners”
Asato Wako, Kyoto University
9:50 – 11:20 Paper Session 3 – Precarity, Ageing and Retirement Migration
“Sustainability of Japan’s Pension System”
Liezl
Anne C. Naing, University of the Philippines, Diliman
“Transcultural
care of Japanese elderly retiring in the Philippines”
Jaymie
Ysabel M. Dalisay, University of the Philippines, Diliman
“A Comparative Study of the Philippines and Thailand’s Trend on Retirement
Migration: Analysis on Tourism Competitiveness through the existing Foreign
Retirement Programs”
Ezra
Nicole Basto, De La Salle University
11:20 – 11:30 Coffee Break
11:30
– 13:00 Paper Session 5 - Precarity of Formal and Informal Care
“IJEPA as transferring Scheme of Returned Nurse to not entered
in Nursing Job: The Miss-track of Indonesian Nurse who become Care Works in
Japan Labor Market”
Kurniawaty
Iskandar, University of Indonesia
“Analysis of the One-Decade Impact of IJEPA: A Case Study of
Indonesian Care Workers’ Rights Fulfillment in Japan through an Employment
Contract”
Happy
Zahrotin Nisa and Kurniawaty Iskandar, University of Indonesia
“Exploring Health Issues of Filipino Women in Japan:
Migrant Narratives and Policy Implications”
Ron Bridget Vilog, Carlos Piocos, III and Jan
Michael Alexandre Bernadas, De La Salle University
13:00 Closing Ceremony
