Aging and Care in a Transnational Context for Chinese Returnees in Japan : Policy Interactions, Intergenerational Comparisons, and Community-Based Care Solutions

This study explores the complex relationship between aging and migration, with a transnational focus on Chinese returnees (Chūgoku kikokusha) moving between China and Japan. Since the 1980s, many Japanese settlers remaining in Manchuria were finally able to repatriate to Japan, settling there with their Chinese family members. This group, known as Chinese returnees, became one of the earliest and most significant permanent migrant cohorts to Japan, with the first generation now averaging over 80 years of age.

First, the study provides a historical review of the aging process experienced by first-generation Chinese returnees within the context of transnational migration and the development of elder care services since 1999. It highlights grass-root activism and policy interactions including group lawsuits aimed at improving welfare, elder care, and overall quality of life. Second, the study conducts an intergenerational and transnational comparison between the elder care provided historically to Chinese foster parents in China and the care given to first-generation returnees in Japan. This comparison emphasizes how the intersection of aging and migration creates both vulnerabilities and opportunities for these groups. Third, the study examines intergenerational relationships within the transnational networks of Chinese returnees, exploring how care responsibilities are passed down within migrant communities and how the aging process influences these intergenerational bonds. Drawing from theories of the care diamond and welfare regimes, the study investigates how ethnic community-based elder care services operate in a transnational context, complementing the state-dominated care provision in Japan. Overall, by applying the life course perspective and the aging-migration nexus framework, the study reflects the growing global trend of addressing the complex needs of aging migrant populations in negotiation of welfare regimes and points to a broader shift towards innovative practices of elder care services for migrants aging in place.