ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of social actors that are involved in the interaction. Its first section focuses on international graduate students studying in English-medium programs at leading Japanese universities. It describes the characteristics of this population category, their legal status, and specific challenges that they are facing and examines the question of whether international students should be considered a vulnerable group. The second section introduces international student support organizations (ISSOs). It starts with a brief historical overview of civil society in Japan and its current state, including academic opinions on groups involved with foreigners such as migrant support organizations and international exchange associations. It proceeds with an overview of key CSOs involved with international students both on and off campus and provides a typology of the groups in the Kansai area. Finally, it discusses patterns and tendencies of participation in ISSOs.
