Trailing success: Japanese women in Malaysia

Abstract

Mainstream transmigration perspectives have focused either on male as independent, or on female, unskilled migrants. In addition, labour migration processes have often been captured from the South (developing or under-developed) to the West or developed countries. Female transmigration within the regions of Asia and Southeast Asia has received limited attention; it is even less in the study of women professional/ skilled migrants in Southeast Asia. This paper aims to explore the reasons behind the increase of Japanese immigrants in Malaysia. It focuses on Japanese professional/ skilled women, married or single, who have moved to Malaysia for career, education or marriage purposes. The paper examines: to what extend is transmigration an effect on Japanese women migrants' quest for success? Do they think that due to transmigration, they have transcended 'traditional' Japanese values in terms of women's subjugation? What are the changes they face compared to their mother's generation? Breaking away from the conventional image of an expatriate's wive, these Japanese women are independent, educated and young. Their self-perceptions and lived experiences reveal their personal aspirations and even further, the transformation of Japanese women's socio-economic status within and outside their country of origin.