“华侨华人”不是国际关系中的主要行为体，也不是非主要行为体，它只是存在于中国与侨民移入国的一个族群，在不同的国家所引发的问题并不完全相同。现有的日本华侨华人研究，不是把华侨华人作为自变量，认为它影响中日关系，就是把华侨华人作为因变量，认为它受中日关系影响。但根据本文的分析结果，中日两个国家间关系，包括历史上的冲突、生存利益等，深刻影响了华侨华人在日本的生存。学界探讨的华侨华人在提升国家软实力、公共外交等方面的作用，受中日关系制约，实际上难以发挥。近年来，受“钓鱼岛购岛”等事件影响，越来越多日本华侨华人选择回国定居，除非中日关系好转，在日华人人口将持续下降。
“Overseas Chinese” are neither a major actor nor a non-major actor in international relations. It is only an ethnic group between China and country of immigration. Depending on the country，the problems it creates are unique. The existing studies of Overseas Chinese in Japan either regard the Overseas Chinese as an independent variable that it affects China-Japan relations or the dependent variable that it is reflected. However，according to the results of the analyses in this paper，the living status of Overseas Chinese in Japan has been deeply influenced by relations between China and Japan including historical conflicts and survival interests. The function proposed by scholars that Overseas Chinese are able to enhance the country’s soft power and public diplomacy，in fact，is difficult to play out because of the restrictions of China-Japan relations. In recent years，due to the territorial issue of “purchase” of the Diaoyu Islands and other events，more and more Overseas Chinese have decided to come back from Japan and settle down in China. The Chinese population in Japan will continue to decline unless the China-Japan relations had been improved.
