Transnational Homecoming and Cross-Border Labor Mobility: Migration Networks and the History of Chinese Returnees to Japan from Heilongjiang, China

This study focuses on the mobility history and migration networks to Japan from Heilongjiang Province, China, spanning over half a century. Since the 1980s, many Japanese settlers who had remained in Manchuria were finally able to repatriate to Japan, often accompanied by their Chinese family members. This group, known as Chinese returnees (Chūgoku kikokusha), not only forged their own paths back “home” to Japan but also became a key mobility infrastructure. Since the 1970s, they have played a pivotal role in mediating cross-border movements and creating various pathways for migration and labor mobility between China and Japan.

There are roughly four stages of migrant waves across different visa categories. First, in the 1970s, the development of rural bride migration to Japan’s Tohoku region was facilitated by Chinese returnees, evolving into a pattern of transnational matchmaking and the feminization of migration. Secondly, after China joined the WTO in 2001, the rise of local labor export agencies significantly promoted the movement of laborers in the form of technical trainees from this region. Thirdly, the increasing number of students from Northeast China attending Japanese language schools has further contributed to transnational labor mobility, particularly among the younger generation. Currently, Chinese returnees have also been instrumental in entrepreneurial activities such as waste collection, hiring employees directly from China through visas like Engineer/Specialist in Humanities/International Services.

This study employs primarily multi-sited ethnography together with expert interviews, to examine the historical formation and modern transformations in Heilongjiang as a major source of cross-border labor. It explores the intricate intersections of history and transnational mobility, offering a concrete case study of the Manchurian legacy in Northeast China and the broader evolution of Sino-Japanese labor migration dynamics.