Mirva Watanabe – Researcher Interview

Mirva Watanabe – Researcher Interview

Q1 Please introduce yourself briefly

I’m Mirva Watanabe and I’m doing my PhD at the University of Tokyo. I also work as a teacher, for example teaching Finnish at the University of Tokyo. I moved to Japan in 2022, before which I had just graduated as a psychologist from the University of Eastern Finland. I also have a Master’s degree in East Asian Studies and while studying at the University of Helsinki, I also did a student exchange in Japan at Waseda University.

Q2 Could you tell us what your research is about

My research is about antiwork, focusing in particular on anti-capitalist anti-labour, which opposes the oppressive elements of wage labour and the accumulation of capital for only some people. I conduct my research in both Finland and Japan using mainly qualitative methods, such as interviews.

Q3 What can your research help us to understand, and what is its aim

My research helps us to understand and question social structures that we have come to take for granted, even though they are problematic. Today’s wage employment very often contains oppressive elements for the worker and capital is accumulated unequally. Moreover, much of the work that is absolutely necessary for society is unpaid or poorly paid, even though such activity is a condition of wage employment – wage employment could not be organised in the way it is today if such activity did not exist. The aim of my research is to help understand and increase understanding of the fact that there are other ways of operating and organising society. It is also to question the wage-work and money-centredness of contemporary society in general, and to highlight alternatives.

Q4 As a Finn living in Japan what can you tell us about the challenges benefits or just interesting aspects of living thereLiving in Japan is not new to me since I have spent shorter and longer periods here since 2011. Because of that my everyday life runs quite similarly to how it would in Finland although some mundane tasks like filing a tax return or applying for research expenses from the university can be a bit more challenging here. This is partly due to the heavier bureaucracy compared to Finland. For example at the university one often has to physically carry paper receipts and applications from one office to another collecting stamps and signatures. Daily life in Tokyo also feels busier and in many ways faster than what I was used to in Finland.
From a personal perspective moving to Japan was also significant because I might never have ended up doing a doctoral dissertation if I had stayed in Finland. I am a licensed psychologist in Finland so I likely would have worked in that field there. In Japan you cannot work as a psychologist with that qualification and although there are jobs that do not require it I have not yet come across a position that meets my expectations in terms of independence or flexibility. Moving to Japan and experiencing its work culture led me to seek alternative ways to arrange my life and that in part brought me to my current research topic.

Q5 What advice would you give to Finnish researchers who want to come to Japan to do research

Japan is surprisingly a good place to conduct research because there is relatively good availability of scholarships for doctoral programs such as JSPS DC and the universities’ own support schemes. However these grants are often only available for three years so you need to work quite intensively if you want to finish your research within that timeframe. It is also worth noting that you should not be too afraid of tuition fees at universities because there are usually options to apply for exemption or discounts. I am currently doing my research with JSPS DC2 funding which provides a monthly salary along with an annual lump sum for research-related expenses.
It is important to choose your university faculty and supervisor carefully as they are very significant when doing research. It is also worth remembering that some doctoral programs only accept those who have completed their master’s studies in the same program or faculty. I got into my doctoral program after spending a year as a research student in the same program but this appears to be relatively rare at the University of Tokyo. In Japan doctoral students are seen more as “students” than in Finland and for example one has to think more about collecting academic credits than would usually be the case in Finnish doctoral programs so this should be taken into account.