Dr. Jotaro Kato

Dr. Jotaro Kato

Member

KATO Jotaro is a Lecturer at Department of English, School of Letters, Mukogawa Women’s University.
After working in an NGO to support unauthorized migrants as a caseworker, he completed his PhD at Waseda University in September 2020.
He majors in migration studies, international labor mobility and global sociology. His research interest is on unauthorized migrants and migration infrastructure between Japan and Vietnam. He uses qualitative methods, with the belief that grassroots level observations, participation, interaction, and interviews contain as well as reveal the workings of greater thematic issues. He currently researches on the impact of COVID-19 to Vietnamese (ex-)technical interns. He also considers starting a new research project on old and new Vietnamese migrants’ community in Hyogo Prefecture.

Publication

Kato, Jotaro. 2022. Nihon no ‘Hiseiki Imin’: ‘Fuhosei wa Ikani Tsukurare Iji Sareruka
[Irregular Migrants in Japan: How ‘Illegality’ is produced and sustained]. Akashi Shoten.
Kato, Jotaro and Gracia Liu-Farrer. 2022. ‘Becoming “Illegal”: the Institutional Mechanisms of Migrantsʼ Illegalization in Japan’. Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies 44. 183-197.
Sigona, Nando, Jotaro Kato and Irina Kuznetsova. 2021. ‘Migration infrastructures and theproduction of migrants’ irregularity in Japan and the United Kingdom’. ComparativeMigration Studies 9 (31). 1-19. (Peer-Reviewed)
Kato, Jotaro, Irina Kuznetsova and John Round. 2019. 'The Nature of “Illegal” Migration in Japan and the United Kingdom: The Impact of Attitudes towards Migrants, Social Cohesion and Future Challenges'. IRiS Working Paper Series. 35.
Kato, Jotaro. 2019. ‘“Fuhōsei” to Tomoni Ikiru: Hiseiki Taizaisha ga Nihon de Kurasu Koto o Kanō to Suru Yōin wa Nanika’ [Living in ‘Illegality’: What Makes It Possible for Irregular Migrants to Live in Japan?]. Migration Policy Review 11: 60-74. (Peer-Reviewed)
Kato, Jotaro. 2019. ‘Betonamu Jin Hiseiki Taizaisha, Ryūgakusei, Ginōjisshusei eno Kēsu Sutadei: Betonamu jin o “Gōhō” to “Fuhō” ni Wakatsu no ha Nani ka’ [A Case Study on Vietnamese Undocumented Migrants, Students and Technical Interns: What Distinguishes Vietnamese People Who Remain ‘Legal’ and Those Who Become ‘Illegal’?]. Journal of the Graduate School of Asia-Pacific Studies 38: 35-53. (Peer-Reviewed)