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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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