Gender and Construction of the Life Course
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GENDER AND CONSTRUCTION OF THE LIFE COURSE OF JAPANESE IMMIGRANT WOMEN IN CANADA by NATSUKO CHUBACHI A thesis submitted to the Department of Geography in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada April, 2009 Copyright©Natsuko Chubachi, 2009 Library and Archives Bibliothèque et Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l’édition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-65423-1 Our file Notre référence ISBN: 978-0-494-65423-1 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non- L’auteur a accordé une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant à la Bibliothèque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par télécommunication ou par l’Internet, prêter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des thèses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, à des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non- support microforme, papier, électronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. 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ABSTRACT This thesis explores social construction of the life course of post-war Japanese immigrant (shin ijuusha) women in Canada, based on interviews with 48 Japanese women in Toronto, Kingston and Ottawa. First, why women leave Japan is explored. Their emigration occurs in contexts of tourism, Japanese longing for America/the West constructed through Western popular culture, and gender and the life course. Japanese women negotiate their lives, cleverly using multiple meanings attached to the migration experience. Second, their lives in Canada are examined. Advantages Japanese women found in Canada include freedom and different perspectives, whereas they face serious disadvantages such as language/cultural barriers and difficulty finding employment. They cannot really recognize the existence of racism, however, because of their language/cultural barriers and of subtlety of today’s racism. Though dispersed and invisible, shin ijuusha networks have developed in Toronto since the early 1970s, with a major motivation to provide Japanese language education for nisei children. Shin ijuusha mothers tend to regret that their children have acquired only basic Japanese, but some have successfully connected their children to Japan/Japanese culture. Japanese immigrant women often attach emotional meanings to immigration status. Some choose their status with their family in mind. Subjectively, they tend to feel they are “Japanese,” hesitating to claim to be “Canadian.” They have internalized the mainstream gaze and see themselves as “others” in Canada. Meanwhile, many women feel that Canada is their home. They tend to transform Canada to a homeland over their i life course, establishing meaningful social relations. Third, shin ijuusha women’s transnationalism is explored. They keep ties with Japan, especially for social connections. Many women provide transnational care provision for their aging parents in Japan, which is a new gender role invented after World War II. Shin ijuusha women’s transnationalism is associated with life-course transitions. Spatial connection between Canada and Japan is still contingent in societal context, however. Finally, how migration to Canada has changed lives of Japanese women is considered. Although the migration did not necessarily empower women, they tend to view it positively, because migration helped them to acquire plural perspectives that have deeply enriched their lives. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This thesis and my student life in Canada have been supported by many people. I am deeply grateful to Dr. Audrey Kobayashi, my supervisor, and Dr. Mark Rosenberg, my former supervisor for the Master’s degree. Studying in Canada as an international student has been fulfilling and exciting, but it was sometimes very challenging. My supervisors have always provided support and encouragement. I wish to thank thesis committee members, Dr. Sheryl Bond, Dr. Betsy Donald, Dr. Audrey Kobayashi, Dr. Valerie Preston, Dr. Jonathan Rose and Dr. Mark Rosenberg, for their providing valuable comments and suggestions. I would like to thank qualifying examination committee members, Dr. Laura Cameron, Dr. Peter Goheen, Dr. Audrey Kobayashi, Dr. Catherine Krull and Dr. Mark Rosenberg, who helped me to develop this thesis. I would also like to thank my fellow graduate student, staff and faculty of Queen’s Geography who helped me, spending quality time together. Experience gained in Canada is one of my greatest life assets. I wish to thank shin ijuusha women and men who kindly participated in this research. Talking with them was always delightful and eye-opening. Not only have they told me their life experiences, but they have provided deep insights and analyses they themselves developed. This thesis is substantially a collaboration with interviewees, although their names remain anonymous. I would like to thank the Government of Canada for financial support for my doctoral studies at Queen’s. I also appreciate the Fulbright Scholarship that provided financial assistance to my early doctoral studies in the United States, the credits of which were later transferred to Queen’s. I am grateful to Dr. Yoshitaka Ishikawa, my former supervisor for the Bachelor’s iii degree in Kyoto University, for providing me with continuous support over years. Finally, I would like to thank my family and friends who live in various parts of the world, including Canada, China, Japan, New Zealand, Switzerland and the U.S. Without their transnational support, affection and encouragement, this thesis could not have been realized. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT..........................................................................................................................i ACKNOWLEGEMENTS...................................................................................................iii TABLE OF CONTENTS......................................................................................................v LIST OF TABLES................................................................................................................vii LIST OF FIGURES...............................................................................................................ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................1 CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW...............................................................................8 2.1 Feminist Geography.............................................................................................8 2.2 Social Geography of the Life Course.................................................................14 CHAPTER 3 UNDERSTANDING THE BACKGROUND OF MIGRATION FROM JAPAN TO CANADA.......................................................................................22 3.1 Societal Background of the Migration...............................................................22 3.1.1 Japan’s modernization and the Meiji period...............................................22 3.1.2 Risshin shusse ideology...............................................................................26 3.1.3 Structure of Japanese family from the Meiji period....................................28 3.1.4 Japanese relation with the West from the end of Japan’s feudal period......33 3.2 Migration from Japan to Canada........................................................................37 CHAPTER 4 RESEARCH DIRECTIONS.................................................................43 4.1 Method................................................................................................................43 4.2 Demographic Characteristics of the Interviewees..............................................49 CHAPTER 5 COMING TO CANADA.............................................................................53 5.1 Reasons for Coming from Japan to Canada.......................................................53 5.1.1 International migration as an extension of travelling.................................56 5.1.2 International migration constructed through longing for the West and its popular Culture.............................................................................66 5.1.3 International migration constructed through gender and the life course..................................................................................................73