EVENT DETAILS
JCIE USA is excited to share the second event in our two-part webinar series, which highlights the role of Japanese nonprofit, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in addressing challenges facing foreign residents and promoting peaceful “multicultural coexistence” (tabunka kyosei). The second webinar, “Japan’s Immigration Politics and Policy – Roles of Japanese NGOs in Refugee Assistance,” will focus on how politics and policies impact refugees in Japan, featuring the perspectives and work of Japanese NGOs that specialize in refugee assistance services. It builds upon the first webinar, “Supporting Youth with Foreign Roots in Japan,” which addresses education and employment support for children and youth with foreign roots.
The event will promote solution-oriented dialogues between representatives of Japanese NGOs and experts from the United States and Japan on immigration policy and identify effective approaches and lessons learned to successfully integrate foreign residents into society.
The details for the event and registration information are below:
September 23, 2026 (USA) | 7:30–9:00 pm EST
September 24, 2026 (Japan) | 8:30–10:00 am JST
VENUE: Online via Zoom
Be sure to register for the first part of our webinar series, “Supporting Youth with Foreign Roots in Japan,” on September 15, 8:15 pm (USA) | September 16, 9:15 am (Japan)!
SPEAKERS
Toshihiro Menju
Visiting Professor, Kansai University of International Studies; former Managing Director, JCIE Japan
Toshihiro Menju was born in Tokushima Prefecture and graduated from Osaka Prefectural Ikuno High School and the Faculty of Law at Keio University. He obtained a Master’s in Public Policy from The Evergreen State College. After working at the Hyogo Prefectural Government, he joined JCIE Japan in 1988 and served as Managing Director. He has also served as a part-time lecturer at Keio University and other institutions, as an adviser to the Council for the Employment of Foreign Nationals and as an expert member of the Japanese Language Education Subcommittee of the Central Council for Education under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.
Dr. Michael Strausz
Professor and Chair, Department of Political Science, Texas Christian University
Michael Strausz is a professor and the chair of the Political Science Department at Texas Christian University. His research focuses on Japanese politics, especially Japan’s immigration policy and the relationship between international norms and domestic politics in Japan. He graduated from Michigan State University’s James Madison College and earned his PhD in political science from the University of Washington in Seattle. Michael is the author of Help (Not) Wanted: Immigration Politics in Japan (SUNY Press, 2019) and the editor of No Island is an Island: Perspectives on Immigration to Japan (University of Hawai’i Press, 2025). He has lived in Japan for 3 years, primarily in Tsukuba and Yokohama. View his webpage here.
Eri Ishikawa
Chair of the Board, Japan Association for Refugees (JAR)
Eri Ishikawa founded the Japanese branch of Amnesty International and joined JAR as one of the founders in 1999. She later joined the secretariat full-time in 2001, initially leading support for Afghan refugees and contributing to Japan’s first amendment to its refugee recognition law, as well as coordinating the response to the Kurdish refugees’ sit-in at United Nations University and their subsequent deportation. She was appointed Executive Director in 2008 and Representative Director in 2014. She has represented Japan’s civil society sector at the Japan-China-Korea Next Generation Leaders Forum and the Japan-Korea Future Dialogue and is co-author of several books on refugee protection and immigration law. She teaches as a part-time lecturer at Sophia University and at Hitotsubashi University’s Graduate School of International and Public Policy.
Nana Yamamoto
Co-Founder & Co-CEO, Mobility for Humanity (MforH)
Nana Yamamoto is Co-Founder & Co-CEO of Mobility for Humanity (MforH), a Japan-based nonprofit building ethical, transnational employment-based pathways for displaced people into rural Japanese communities. Born in Yokohama, Nana grew up across Japan, the US, Germany, and studied at Waseda University. A life spent moving back and forth across boundaries — of countries, cultures, and languages — became the root of her vision: a world where people can meet, thrive, and build relationships without borders. In 2025, she co-founded Mobility for Humanity, piloting a corridor connecting displaced talent in Bangladesh — Afghan and Rohingya youth — with labor-shortage industries in rural Japan through language training and ethical recruitment. She also serves on the board of Arrupe Refugee Center in Kamakura.
Moderator: Kazuyo Kato
Executive Director, JCIE USA
Kazuyo joined JCIE USA as Executive Director in April 2021, after spending nearly two decades at nonprofit organizations dedicated to US-Japan relations and international affairs in both the United States and Japan. Prior to JCIE USA, she was Senior Director of Global Partnerships and Initiatives at Japan Society in New York. As a member of the executive team, she focused on developing funding support and expanding the society’s network across the country and in Japan through online initiatives and partnership programs, and she helped keep the Society active during the global pandemic. She also led the Society’s multifaceted program on the 10-year anniversary of the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Read more…
