Paper short abstract:

This paper aims to understand position of 'trailing spouses' as 'women', 'wives', 'mothers', and 'workers' and the role their gender, nationality and relationship status plays in crafting their life as migrants in a foreign land – in this case, Japan.

Paper long abstract:

The number of Indians residing in Japan is around 36,058 as of December 2021, of which only 30% are Indian women. Most of these women are well-educated, and some had decent jobs before moving to Japan. The majority of them are 'trailing spouses' (Yeah and Khoo: 1998) who follow their husbands, who move for job opportunities or marry men who have been residing and working in Japan.While their husbands are referred to as 'highly skilled', the skills of these women often remain unregistered as they move as dependents.

This paper aims to understand their position as 'women', 'wives', 'mothers', and 'workers' and the role their gender, nationality and relationship status plays in crafting their life as migrants in a foreign land – in this case, Japan. It focuses on the role of 'agency' and how it helps them adjust to their new environment and face the reality of their migration experiences vs expectations. It further emphasizes how their experiences as migrants influence their (im)mobility, and how their dreams and notions of migration have changed over the years.

This paper is based on (visual) ethnographic research and life history interviews conducted since 2013 with married Indian migrant women residing in Japan for more than a decade and those who have moved in recent years. Through the narratives of these women, the paper will illustrate how 'gender' shapes the experiences of men and women differently and how these women are actively working on their ‘selves’ while coping with gendered disadvantages in the labour market (Kerkhoff and Kirk: 2018) to find their niche.