566.3
Japanese Expatriation in China Since the 1990s: Gender, Nationalism, and Changing Status As a Migrant
Japanese companies have expanded operations into overseas markets and production bases since the 1970s, and it has pushed Japanese people in investment-led communities overseas [Glebe et al. 1999]. The tendency has accelerated since the 1990s, especially in Asia. Before the 1990s, Japanese companies were hesitant about localization, and they transferred predominantly male employees to overseas offices as management staff. It was difficult for local staff to be involved in important decisions [Sonoda 2001], [Kopp, 1999] , and expatriates and their families tended to focus on Japan rather than their host country [Trevor 1983], [White 1992].
However, along with the globalization of Japanese business in Asia, Japanese expatriation has changed. Dispatched male managers are still at the center of management, but there are also Japanese workers who move abroad by themselves, entrepreneurs and those who migrate to their spouse's country of origin. Their experiences and future prospects have become diverse, reflected by their different backgrounds, motivations, and positions among Japanese expatriates. In addition, the economic recession in Japan and the growth of Chinese and other Asian economies has changed the dominant position of Japanese companies.
I have conducted life-story interviews and field research in Hong Kong and Shanghai since 1996, when Japanese companies expanded their businesses there. In the presentation, I mainly discuss three points. 1) Has the gender imbalance of the Japanese expatriate community in Asia changed? 2) How has the competition between Japan and other Asian countries influenced the lives and thoughts of diverse Japanese expatriates: Have they become more cosmopolitan or transnational? 3) How do expatriates manage the increasing gap between their realities abroad and the ethnocentric ideas in Japan?