Japanese Female Immigrants in the Greater Stockholm Area
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ISSN 1653-2244 INSTITUTIONEN FÖR KULTURANTROPOLOGI OCH ETNOLOGI DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL ANTHROPOLOGY AND ETHNOLOGY (Becoming) Strong Women in Sweden: Japanese Female Immigrants in the Greater Stockholm Area By Yuka Kikuchi Supervisor: Oscar Pripp 2019 MASTERUPPSATSER I KULTURANTROPOLOGI Nr 95 1 Abstract This thesis investigates how the Japanese women who were born and grew up in Japan experienced their migration to Sweden. Three things are examined. The first regards the Japanese female immigrants’ (re)interpretation and practice of gender. Differences in policies and social systems of Sweden and Japan to pursue a gender-equal society are illustrated through contextualization of social and historical backgrounds of the past few decades and informants’ lived experiences. The second regards their (re)construction and performance of ethnicity. Various meanings and experiences of Japanese cultural space were highlighted in transcultural settings of Swedish society and (re)constructed Japanese ethnicity in Sweden. Having these perspectives as components, thirdly, their multiple, complex and flexible ways of being and sense of belonging(s) are scrutinized by employing translocational positionality framework. This analytical framework permeates all chapters of this thesis and discusses how Japanese female immigrants multiply constructed and flexibly shifted their ways of being and sense of belonging(s) in addition to their positionality in Swedish social stratification depending on situations and contexts they were exposed to. This thesis is an attempt to contribute to burgeoning ethnographic studies on gender and migration by revealing female immigrants’ construction of corrective identities in their contry of settlement. Keywords: gender, migration, Japanese female immigrants, collective identity, ethnicity, culture, space, positionality, translocational positionality 論⽂の要旨 本論⽂は、筆者の 2018 年 3 ⽉から 10 ⽉に及ぶスウェーデン王国⾸都ストックホルムとその近郊に おける⺠族学的調査によって、⽇本⼈⼥性の⽇常⽣活に焦点を当て、移⺠かつ⼥性という彼⼥たちの 集団的属性が移住先での暮らしと社会的位置性をどのように形成するのかを⺠族誌的に明らかにする ことを主題とするものである。そして最終的に、当該地域における彼⼥たちのジェンダー意識の再形 成とその実践の過程、⽇本⼈という⺠族性の現地での再形成とその体現のされ⽅、そして彼⼥たちの 状況に応じて多様かつ複合的に形成される集団的属性と帰属意識を明らかにすることを⽬的としてい る。本論⽂は次の 5 章で構成されている。第 1 章では研究動機、研究⽬的、理論的背景の考察、調査 の概略などについて述べ、第 2 章では調査対象の⼈々の労働⽣活、第 3 章では家庭⽣活を始めとする 私⽣活、そして第 4 章ではストックホルムでの⽇本⽂化の体験と再現に焦点をあて、個別的テーマに 関する⺠族誌的データを検討し、第 5 章において本論全体にかかる考察を⾏っている。本論⽂は、近 年増加するジェンダーと移住に関する⼈類学的調査に則りつつ、先進国間での移住に焦点を当てた調 査である。 2 Acknowledgments I would like to first and foremost thank the generosity and willingness of the nine Japanese women who were interviewed for this study and everyone in the field who shared their lived experiences and thoughts with me. Without their cooperation, this study would not have been possible. And of course, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my supervisor Oscar Pripp for his excellence in academic guidance and his unlimited kindness for listening and giving me words of encouragement whenever I faced struggles. His invaluable comments on this thesis pushed me farther than I thought I could go. Finally, I would like to thank Kenji Suzuki and his seminars back in Meiji University where my curiosity in Scandinavian countries began. Without his support, which continued after graduation, who knows where the chain of events could take me to. 3 Table oF Contents Abstract .................................................................................................................................................. 2 Acknowledgments .................................................................................................................................. 3 Table oF Contents .................................................................................................................................. 4 Notes on tHe TranslatIon and TranslIteratIon oF Japanese Words .................................................... 7 Informants for SemI-structured Interviews ........................................................................................ 8 Chapter 1. IntroductIon ........................................................................................................................ 9 1.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................... 9 1.2 Research Questions and Aim ....................................................................................................... 11 1.3 Theory and Analaytical Concepts ................................................................................................ 13 1.3.1 Race, Ethnicity and Culture .................................................................................................. 13 1.3.2 Gender .................................................................................................................................. 15 1.3.3 Space .................................................................................................................................... 16 1.3.4 Translocational Positionality ................................................................................................ 17 1.4 Research Methods ....................................................................................................................... 19 1.4.1 Fieldwork ............................................................................................................................. 19 1.4.2 Internship .............................................................................................................................. 22 1.4.3 Self-reflexivity ...................................................................................................................... 22 1.4.4 Anonymity ............................................................................................................................ 23 1.5 Chapters ....................................................................................................................................... 24 1.6 Background ................................................................................................................................. 24 1.6.1 Japan and the Japanese People ............................................................................................. 25 1.6.2 Japanese as Immigrants ........................................................................................................ 25 1.6.3 Immigrants in Sweden .......................................................................................................... 26 Chapter 2. WorkIng LiFe ..................................................................................................................... 28 2.1 Historical and Social Backgrounds .............................................................................................. 28 2.1.1 Japan ..................................................................................................................................... 28 2.1.2 Sweden ................................................................................................................................. 32 2.2 Having a Career ........................................................................................................................... 34 2.2.1 To Become a Strong Woman ................................................................................................ 34 2.2.2 To Feel a Sense of Belonging ............................................................................................... 37 2.2.3 To Have a Safety Net ........................................................................................................... 38 4 2.3 Job-hunting .................................................................................................................................. 40 2.3.1 Struggles as Immigrants ....................................................................................................... 40 2.3.2 Racialized Experience .......................................................................................................... 41 2.3.3 Gender Occupational Segregations ....................................................................................... 42 2.4 Working Conditions .................................................................................................................... 43 2.4.1 Gender Equality .................................................................................................................... 43 2.4.2 Work Styles .......................................................................................................................... 43 2.4.3 Interacting with Co-workers and Customers ........................................................................ 47 2.5 Summarizing Reflections ............................................................................................................ 50 Chapter 3. FamIly and PrIvate LiFe ................................................................................................... 52 3.1 Gender Norms ............................................................................................................................. 52 3.1.1 In Japan ................................................................................................................................ 52 3.1.2 In Sweden ............................................................................................................................. 54 3.2 Sharing Household Tasks ...........................................................................................................