178 IMR Volume 43 Number 1 (Spring 2009):178–204 © 2009 by the Center for Migration Studies of New York. All rights reserved. DOI: 10.1111/j.1747-7379.2008.01152.x Blackwell Publishing Ltd Oxford, UK IMRE International Migration Review 0197-9183 0197-9183 © 2009 by the Center for Migration Studies of New York. All rights reserved XXX Original Article   ¾ ⅝ ⅞ ¾ ⅞  Educationally Channeled International Labor Mobility: Contemporary Student Migration from China to Japan Gracia Liu-Farrer Ochanomizu University International education is an important channel of labor migration. Most commonly, this form of labor migration is considered as “brain drain,” represented by the retention of graduate students in science and engineer- ing in the host labor market. This case study of contemporary Chinese student migration to Japan shows that international students have different credentials, interests, and motivations for migrating abroad, and consequently provide the host society both unskilled and skilled labor power. Moreover, Chinese students’ labor market practices as skilled labor migrants show their important roles in the economic globalization. Aside from scientific and engineering skills, Chinese students use their linguistic and cultural competencies to act as intermediaries between their host and home economies. Although still peripheral to immigration scholarship, international education is a significant channel of labor migration, with millions of students crossing borders to pursue their educations every year. Massey and Malone’s (2002) study shows that former students were 22 percent of those acceding to permanent residence through employer preference in the US in 1996. Most commonly, this form of labor migration is framed as “brain drain.” Represented by graduate students in science and engineering, international students’ entry into the host labor market is perceived as a zero-sum game with the receiving country gaining talents, depriving the sending countries of much needed human resources. This case study of contemporary Chinese student migration to Japan shows that such portrayals of international students’ labor market outcomes do not capture the diversity of international students or their contributions to the global economy. Chinese students studying in Japan have varied credentials, interests, and motivations and consequently provide their host society both unskilled and skilled labor power. Moreover, Chinese students’ labor market practices as skilled labor migrants show their important roles in the economic globalization. Aside from scientific and engineering skills, Chinese students use their linguistic and cultural competencies to act as intermediaries, bringing together both their host and home economies. I use