Japanese Language and the Careers of Immigrant Women in International Marriages

For Literacy Compensation and Literacy Security

Abstract

In this study I examine the life histories of three women in international marriages with Japanese men who are living in a rural town. Based on their own narratives and on observations of the environment in which they live, I analyze their career formation in terms of work career and life career, through their choice of occupation and status achieved therein, through their education, and family and social relationships. In the course of this analysis I look at how their acquisition of and proficiency in the Japanese language has interacted with these aspects of their lives, the meaning it has for them and how it has supported their lives.

From this analysis, employing the concepts of resource and identity work, the results show that the women, benefitting from such resources as ethnicity, perceived whiteness, and facility in Japanese, engaged in the formation of their work and life careers while affirming their personal identities (identity work). Finally, in order for foreigners living in Japan to achieve a high quality of life and to fully participate in society, I posit the need for "literacy compensation" on the part of the community to accept and make up for any deficiencies in Japanese literary, and for "literacy security" on the part of local and national public institutions to guarantee the opportunity for Japanese acquisition.