Institute of Social Science The University of Tokyo

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Research Staff

ISHIDA Kenji

Division Center for Social Research and Data Archives
Research Fields Social Stratification, Economic Sociology
E-mail ishidakiss.u-tokyo.ac.jp

Teaching and Research Appointments

April 2014 − March 2016 Research Associate, Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo
April 2016 − Associate Professor, Institute of Social Science, The University of Tokyo
March 2022 − May 2022 Visiting Research Scholar, Office of Population Research, Princeton University
January 2023 − May 2023 Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence Program, Center for East Asian Studies, University of Pennsylvania

Topics of Research

1Career mobility and working life in the contemporary Japanese society
Along with changes in the way people work, including employment patterns, there have also been changes in the working environment and people's thinking about their careers. This research theme examines what kind of career mobility people experience in Japanese society today and under what conditions opportunities for upward mobility exist. In addition to opportunities for status attainment, the actual work environment and career prospects are also important factors in the quality of people's working lives. Using various social survey data, these issues will be addressed.
2Status attainment of immigrants in Japan
The size of the immigrant population living in Japan is on the increase, and social interest in their treatment is growing. However, until now, not enough empirical research has been conducted on their educational and occupational attainment opportunities and whether disparities exist between them and the Japanese majority. This research project aims to clarify the structure of status attainment of immigrants in Japan through secondary analysis of data from academic performance surveys such as PISA and TIMSS, or microdata from surveys conducted by the Japanese Government.
3Time use structure in contemporary Japan
In addition to the socio-economic and demographic situations, the technological environment surrounding people's daily lives is changing, and so are their daily time use and attitudes towards their living time. In this research theme, through the analysis of various microdata, we are tackling the question of whether people's time use is accelerating (becoming busier) or whether there are socio-economic disparities surrounding the time use situation. Research is also being conducted into methods for measuring time use.

Selected Publications

  • “Reconsidering the "Institutional Linkage" Effect in the School to Work Transition Process in Japan : A Trend Analysis on the First Job Turnover” (in Japanese), The Journal of Educational Sociology, No. 94, May, 2014, pp. 325-44.
  • “Negative Assimilation: How Immigrants Experience Economic Mobility in Japan” (with Ayumi Takenaka, Makiko Nakamuro), International Migration Review, First published online on 9 February, 2015.
  • “A Log-linear Analysis on the Structure of Early Career Mobility in Japan: Using Job History Data of JLPS and SSM” (in Japanese), Panel Survey Project Discussion Paper Series No. 84, Dec, 2014.
  • “Gender Difference on Career Mobility of Lawyers,” (with Satoshi Miwa) Mayumi Nakamura (ed), The Work-Life Balance of Lawyers (in Japanese), Akashi Shoten, April 2015, pp.29-54.
  • “The Empirical Study of Time Spent Studying for Children of Immigrants in Japan,” (with Makiko Nakamuro, Ayumi Takenaka and Tomohiko Inui) The Economic Analysis, No.190, January 2016, pp.47-68.
  • “The Academic Achievement of Immigrant Children in Japan: An Empirical Analysis of the Assimilation Hypothesis,” (with Makiko Nakamuro and Ayumi Takenaka) Educational Studies in Japan: International Yearbook, No.10, Marth 2016, 93-107.
  • “Social Inequality of Leisure from Time Use Perspective," (with Kaoru Sato) Statistics (in Japanese), Vol.67, No.8, August 2016, pp.14-19.
  • “A Vicious Cycle between Social Isolation and Unemployment," Hiroshi Ishida (ed), Education and Career (in Japanese), Keiso Shobo, March 2017, pp.194-216.
  • “A New Direction of Social Data Analysis: Access to Micro-datasets of Official Statistics for Sociological Research," (with Shinsuke Ito, Sho Fujihara, Satoshi Miwa) Sociological Theory and Methods (in Japanese), Vol.32, No.2, March 2018, pp.321-336.
  • “Inequality in the Continuity of High School Enrollment among Nationality Groups in Japan: An Empirical Study with the 2010 Population Census of Japan,” Sociological Theory and Methods, 35(2), September 2020, pp.214-227.
  • “Social distancing as a public good under the COVID-19 pandemic,” (with Susumu Cato，Takashi Iida，Asei Ito，Kenneth Mori McElwain，Masahiro Shoji), Public Health 188, November 2020, 51-53
  • “The bright and dark sides of social media usage during the COVID-19 pandemic: Survey evidence from Japan,” (with Susumu Cato, Takashi Iida, Asei Ito, Hiroto Katsumata, Kenneth Mori McElwain, Masahiro Shoji), International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 54, February 2021, 102034
  • “Prosociality and the Uptake of COVID-19 Contact Tracing Apps: Survey Analysis of Intergenerational Differences in Japan,” (with Masahiro Shoji, Asei Ito, Susumu Cato, Takashi Iida, Hiroto Katsumata, and Kenneth Mori McElwain) JMIR mHealth and uHealth，9(8)，August 2021，e29923.
  • “The Dynamics of Immigration and Anti-Immigrant Sentiment in Japan: How and Why Changes in Immigrant Share Affect Attitudes toward Immigration in a Newly Diversifying Society,” (with James Laurence, and Akira Igarashi) Social Forces，October 2021，soab115．
    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/sf/soab136
  • "Contextual Obstacles to Entrepreneurship in Japan from the Perspective of the Overseas Japanese Self-Employed," (with Shin Arita), electronic journal of contemporary japanese studies, 22 (1), April 2022.
  • "Co-ethnic Neighborhood Quality and the Educational Opportunities: Upper Secondary Education Enrolment in Japan," (with James Laurence), CSRDA Discussion Paper Series, 27, July 2022, 29p.

Educational Activities

Graduate School of Education,
The University of Tokyo		 Dissertation Research in Quantitative Sociology of Education
Social Embeddedness for Inequality Studies
Collage of Arts and Sciences,
The University of Tokyo		 Quantitative Social Sciences
Graduate School of Letters, Arts and Sciences,
Waseda University		 Advanced Survey Planning and Design
College of Sociology,
Rikkyo University		 Social Change in Contemporary Society
School of Arts and Sciences,
University of Pennsylvania		 Current Issues in Contemporary Japan
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