Beyond blue ocean? The roles of intermediaries in the cross-border labour market between Japan and Vietnam

The field of migration studies regards intermediaries as actors who manage the mobility of people, but academic works on their roles in the making of cross-border labour markets remain scarce. Using the frameworks of market-making and relational work, this study examines how Japanese intermediaries participate in the making of a cross-border labour market between Japan and Vietnam. The study's findings are threefold. First, linguistic certification by an intermediary serves as a gatekeeper of labour's quality and allows an officially implemented linguistic boundary to shift. Second, intermediaries train employers and skilled migrant worker candidates by adjusting their presentation in recruitment venues. Third, intermediaries assist in officializing the employment relationship between employers and migrant workers. This study argues that, due to the absence of a concrete migration policy in Japan, intermediaries actively participate in market-making practices by shifting, adjusting and making visible the boundaries within cross-border labour exchanges.