In the past, women were expected to engage in unpaid work or volunteering in the communities. Now both men and women are encouraged to share various paid and unpaid roles as gender equality has been promoted. As a result, women’s lifestyles have become diverse. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the psychological process through which middle-aged women in contemporary Japanese society change their life careers, using the concept of “life career anchors”. The research is based on interviews with a cohort of 20 women who have changed their life careers at midlife. Women change life careers when they arc challenged by a crisis such as family troubles or unemployment. While experiencing conflict, they become aware of their true abilities, needs and values, and these new life career anchors lead them to new life career choices. Six anchor types are indicated as specific to the middle-aged women in Japan: “horizontal connection”, “self-searching (including moratorium)”, “independence”, “transforming anger into energy”, “work-life balance” and “choosing the same role”. The paper also argues that women’s choices are influenced by the social policy as well as personal factors.