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Leng Leng THANGNational University of
Singapore
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Japanese working women in Singapore Economic migrant vs ‘spiritual’ migrant A reflection of the impact of globalization
where the transfer of international capital and intensive linkages of the world economies have created job opportunities and facilitated the transnational movement of skilled transient human resource.
Japanese women as ‘new Japanese expatriates’ who are young, single and female(The Straits Times 24 August 1994),.
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Studies on Japanese working women overseas Ueno Chizuko (2000) reasons that
the Japanese working women is little-studied because their number is too limited to be significant.
Sakai Junko (2000) - Japanese women working in London
Ben-Ari and Yong’s (2000)- study of Japanese women in Singapore
= ‘twice marginalized’
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Outline
About the data Overview of the pheonomenon of
Japanese women working in Asia Why the move? Push and pull factors Themes in understanding
experiences of Japanese women: fluidity, cross-cultural encounters, process of self discovery
Conclusion5
DATA: SurveyN=194 (47.3% response rate, out of 410
sent out) Single: 119 Married: 75
Singles: Full time: 113, part-time: 6 (including 2 illegal)
AGE GROUP: Age range: 21-56 years old (av. 30.9 years)29-39 age group – 73.9%
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7
05
10152025303540
Percentage
lessthan 6
months
sixmonthsto oneyear
1-2years
2-3years
morethan 3years
Period of Stay in Singapore
Series1
Series2
Series3
Types of work
marketing, sales: 29 Language teacher or Japansese
school teacher: 26 Professional executive: 11 Customer service: 10 Others: 5 (include diving instructor)
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DATA 2
Singapore: In-depth interviews with 12 single women
JAPAN Survey- 270 first year students in a
four-year women’s university in Kansai (average age: 19 years old)
interviewed 21 working women between ages 27-39 (average age 31) in Osaka (all single at the time of interview)
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Working in Asia Boom
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Push factors
Economic downturn in Japan= 2001-2005: regular hires decreased
4 m., freeter increased 4.3 m.=unemployment of Japanese women
graduates in first half of 2000s -20% Media effect= promote travel for young female=trendy image to go overseas=successful examples of Japanese
women overseas
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Push Factors (con’t)
Work conditions in Japan= gender discrimination, mundane job
nature, , lack of career prospect, stress in managerial track
Pressure to get married = ideal of ‘marriage retirement’
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Pull factors
Availability of work visa in Singapore-Preferences: West -> HK -> Singapore= ‘Foreign talent’ policy in Singapore
=Employment pass (S$2500 monthly salary) S employment pass (SS1800, 2007)=2009: 25% non-resident in Singapore (1.2 m) Economic conditions in Singapore-Japanese investments
-existence of Japanese expat community
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Pull Factors (con’t)
Attractions of Singapore-safe, near to Japan, easy access to
Japanese food and supplies, perceived gender equality
Presence of recruitment agency-eg. PaHuma (Jan 2003- 14000
Japanese registered with the co. for positions in Asia-60% Female)
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15
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
Number of responses
Newsmedia
recruitmentagency
directapplication
others
How did you know about the job opening?
Series1
Series2
16
0
10
20
30
40
50
Number of responses
Japan Singapore Others
Where did you find your job?
Series1
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Theme 1: FLUIDITY
Readiness to job hop Perception of the Japanese male
expatriates towards genchisaiyo, despite the lower pay and lack of expat perks: ‘You have chosen to come to work here. I am envious that you have the freedom to quit and go back to Japan anytime if you don’t like the job. Although I have not chosen to come here, I can’t leave without the order from the company’ (Kubo, 1997:116).
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Most stay in a place for about three years, after which either go back to Japan or proceed to look for employment in another country.
lack of interest in permanent residency
(4 out of 111 applied for PR) moving to expat status with expat
perks Although positioned in marginal
status structurally, overcome by managing the mobility made possible by their marginal status.
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Theme 2: cross-cultural encounters “expatriates all over the world create their
own ‘enclave’ which shelters them off from the environment of the host society.” (Cohen, (1977:16)
Genchisaiyo’s informal network ties with other local hires who may be their fellow Japanese colleagues, university alumni, or members of informal friendship groups
Fluid movement- Overlapping with host society
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tend to benchmark themselves against Japanese expatriates, and imply they are somewhat ‘superior’ because they experience ‘real local’ life.
English ability - men’s reliance on Japanese women as linguistic and cultural intermediaries, and due to the pressure to conform to local gender norms, Japanese expatriate culture is noticeably more egalitarian than it is in Japan in terms of gender.
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“You know, the surprising thing about Japanese men, I find, is that they change. They change outside Japan. You know, although they’re acting like kings in Japan, once they step outside Japan, even as tourists, they become really, I don’t know, timid. They change their behavior which is amazing. So they look totally different inside and outside Japan” (Abe,
taken from Thang and MacLachlan 2002) While the Japanese expatriate men and
their families often seen as an enclave, Japanese working women become more a representative of a part of Singapore’s multiculturalism.
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Theme 3: A process of self-discovery An opportunity for reflexivity. Survey responses to the question
‘What are the benefits of staying overseas?’:
=‘I learn more about myself’= ‘I learnt that I have to be independent
and rely on myself’ =‘I became a proactive person.’ Became more Japanese: appreciate
Japanese traditional culture etc.
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Conclusion
Marginality as empowering and liberating
Such transnational work pattern as at once short-term and permanent.
== stay for short term like male expats.== Necessity of such transnational work
pattern for Japanese women with Japanese economic dearth
==Later age of marriage, increase rate of singles
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Related publications Thang, L.L., E. MacLachlan and M. Goda. Expatriates
on the Margins: A Study of Japanese Women Working in Singapore. Geoforum. 33:539-551. December 2002.
also appears as “Japanese women working in Singapore”. In Japan and Singapore: A Multidisiplinary Approach. Tsu, Y.H. ed. Singapore: McGraw Hill. 2006
Thang, L.L., M. Goda and E. MacLachlan. Challenging the Life Course: Japanese Women Working in Singapore. In Old Challenges, New Strategies? Women, Work and Family in Contemporary Asia. L. L. Thang and WH Yu eds., Leiden: Brill Academic Publisher. 2004.
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Thang, L.L., M. Goda and E. MacLachlan. Negotiating work and self- experiences of Japanese working women in Singapore. In Overseas Japanese and Japanese Transnational Migrants in a Global World: From the Past to the Present. Adachi, N. ed. London: Routledge. 2006
Thang, L.L., E. MacLachlan and M. Goda. Living in “ My Space”: Japanese working women in Singapore. Geographical Sciences 61 (3):28-43. 2006
Video, The Second Wave: Japanese Working Women in Singapore. 23 mins. 2002. (Producer)
中澤高志ほか 2008 海外就職の経験と日本人としてのアイデンテイテイーシンガポールで働く現地採用日本人女性を対象にー 地理学評論81:3 (95-120)
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