NEWS

2025.12.24

【Report】An International Collaborative Research-Networking Talk Series Was Held! (Dr. Yusy Widarahesty)

On December 20, 2025, Dr. Yusy Widarahesty, senior researcher at the Asia Japan Research Organization, presented her book, “Dreaming of a Better Life: Journeys of Indonesian Migrant Workers to Japan,” at Ritsumeikan University. Professor Jackie Kim Wachutka organized the event as project director.

This program was part of the Toshiba International Foundation-funded project, “Ethnic Communities Within Global Japanese Studies: Encountering Diversity in a Multi-Ethnic, Multi- Cultural Japan,” and is included in the International Collaborative Research-Networking Talk Series at Ritsumeikan University.

This event was Session III, titled “Labor, Skill Hierarchy, and Human Capital in Japan: From Corporate Elites to Technical Interns.” Two speakers presented their monographs:

First speaker: Dr. Hilary Holbrow (Indiana University Bloomington), Title: “The Future Is Foreign: Women and Immigrants in Corporate Japan,” Publisher: Cornell University Press, 2025

Second speaker: Dr. Yusy Widarahesty (Asia Japan Research Organization, Ritsumeikan University), Title: “Dreaming of a Better Life: Journeys of Indonesian Migrant Workers to Japan,” Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Singapore, 2025

The book talk was promoted through international and Japanese academic mailing lists. It drew 83 registrants and 47 attendees, including 38 online and 9 in-person participants.

Picture: Dr. Yusy Widarahesty giving her presentation

Picture: Dr. Yusy Widarahesty with Professor Jackie Kim Wachutka