Chinese Migrant Families in Japan: Investigating Social Networks for Old-Age Care Provision and the Role of Digital Technology in Times of the COVID-1

Population ageing is one of the greatest global challenges needing urgent attention. Two countries in Asia
are particularly impacted by this: Japan - with the highest proportion of older citizens in the world, and
China - with the most rapidly ageing population in the world. This study explores old-age care, wellbeing,
the role of digital technology, and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the context of Chinese
migration to Japan. Chinese are the largest migrant community in Japan. But how do they maintain links
with, and provide care for, their ageing parents in China? How do older Chinese migrants in Japan link
with their social networks in China and around the world? What role do digital technology and social
media play in these social networks and transnational relations of care? What role does the Japanese
immigration regime play in shaping these patterns of migration and care? And how have all of these
been impacted by the COVID-19 Pandemic? These are the key questions that this proposed Ph.D.
research aims to address, through a mixed-methods approach that will include in-person and online
interviews with Chinese migrants in Japan and their older parents in both China and Japan; drawing
sociograms through which social networks are made visible; quantitative content analysis of social media
content; and digital methods such as web scrapping and use of social media. This research will be
interdisciplinary in nature and outputs, reflecting the researcher's background and the supervisory team
from geography, sociology, and electronic & computer science.