Abstract
The purpose of this study was to clarify the process of construction of relationships between Chinese women married to Japanese men in farming villages and their Japanese families during first pregnancy and delivery. I interviewed eight such Chinese women, collected the data, and subjected them to continuous comparative analysis. The results showed that the process of family relationship construction had one core category: "intention to construct a relationship based on direct relations among Japanese families." I found that this process had three categories. During pregnancy, Chinese women attempted to adapt themselves to their families as a means of "grasping one's own role in construction of a family relationship." The second category was "the realization that their own position within their families was brought about by differences in postpartum customs and role expectation". The third category was "degree of direct relationships among family members, and the qualitative difference of family relationships". Among families where there was good coexistence, Chinese women were given more opportunity to think for themselves. Therefore, I suggest that Chinese women and Japanese families may establish good relationships if they are all involved in nursing care during pregnancy.
