Regulation of marital mixing in Japan: CEPAs as intermediaries between two loyalties.

Summary This thesis focuses on the regulation of marital mix in Japan. This topic allows us to address several major issues in contemporary Japan, in particular the definition of the boundaries of the national community and the modalities of gender (re)production at work in law and public policy. This research analyzes the evolution of the modalities of inclusion and exclusion of families from binational marriages in the national community from 1873 to the present day, which are at the basis of the "politics of belonging". The study shows the centrality of gender until 1985, both in the transmission of nationality and in the granting of residence facilities to Japanese spouses. In particular, we analyze the forms and effects of the measures taken to control the authenticity of marriages, in a context of increasing repression of "sham marriages". The originality of Japan is that part of the implementation of migration regulations is carried out by legal professionals: expert advisors in administrative procedure (CEPA). We question their role as intermediaries with a private status and an important place in the implementation of a policy, which leads us to broaden our reflection on the contours of public action. We conducted semi-structured interviews and participant observation with these actors. We show that the logic of action of the CEPAs is determined by the constraints specific to their professional positioning, which places them in tension between the service and their clients and the expectations of the administration.