Yunchen Tian

English / 日本語 / 中文

Project-Specific Associate Professor at Kyoto University Graduate School of Law. I study migration politics and governance, labor, and political economy in Asia (focus on Japan).

You can find my most current CV here.

Ongoing Projects

  • 『「外国人問題」の構造と世論分析』 Discursive and public-opinion analysis of the "Foreigner Issue" with Mike Strausz (funded by Nomura Foundation)
  • Rethinking Climate Migration as a Socio-Natural Process (funded by Kyoto University URA Spirit 2 Award 2026-2028)
  • Changing Regimes of Multilevel Governance of Labor Migration in Asia
  • Economic Framing and Local Politicians’ Support for Same-Sex Partnership Recognition in Japan with Mike Strausz, Yoshi Ono, Jordan Peterson, and Hikaru Yamagishi

    • Recent Publications

  • Tian, Yunchen. 2026. “Maintaining Sovereignty at the Margins: Internal Migration Governance in Okinawa.” Territory, Politics, Governance.
  • Tian, Yunchen. 2022. “Workers, Neighbours, or Something Else? Local Policies and Policy Narratives of Technical Intern Training Program Participants.” Social Science Japan Journal, 26(1): 77-92.
  • Tian, Yunchen. 2019. “Workers by Any Other Name: Comparing Co-Ethnics and ‘Interns’ as Labour Migrants to Japan.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies 45 (9): 1496–1514.
  • Chung, Erin Aeran, Darcie Draudt, and Yunchen Tian. 2024. “The Developmental Migration State.” Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies, 50 (3):637-656.
  • Chung, Erin, James F Hollifield, and Yunchen Tian. 2024. “Migration Governance in East and Southeast Asia.” International Relations of the Asia-Pacific, 24 (3): 497-522.

    • Teaching

    Kyoto University Institute for Liberal Arts and Sciences (2025~)

  • State and Civil Society I
  • State and Civil Society II
  • Politics and Governance of International Migration

    • Doshisha Womens' College (2025~)

  • Multiculturalism in Modern Society

    • Find me elsewhere:

  • Google Scholar
  • ResearchMap
  • ORCID

    • Last updated: May 2026