Journals

Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific, Issue number 31-
Becoming Asian in Australia: Migration and a Shift in Gender Relations among Young Japanese by Kumiko Kawashima

Japanese temporary migration has been on the increase over the last few decades, and thousands of Japanese students and Working Holiday Makers (WHMs) enter the country every year.[1] Upon arrival, these temporary migrants become minority members of a society where the white majority has cultural dominance over the ‘ethnic’ Others. By drawing on the concept of ‘contact zones’, in this article I explore the question of minority migrants’ agency with a focus on everyday representations of unequal racial relations-as viewed from their standpoints. I pay particular attention to the intersection between the structural power relations in which migrants-as-agents are located, and how these actors discursively develop desirable subject positions. By responding to the theme of this Special Issue titled ‘Post-Colonial and Contemporary Sexual Contact Zones in East Asia and the Pacific’, my analysis deals with interview narratives which explicitly refer to gendered aspects of being young Japanese newcomers in Australia… read it online or download PDF

About the Journal:

Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific (Intersections is a refereed journal and is an open access journal)

The Intersections electronic journal was originally published by Anne Marie Medcalf and Carolyn Brewer from a site at Murdoch University in Western Australia. At that time it was conceived of as an interactive forum for new research and teaching in the area of Gender Studies in the Asian region. Between September 1998 and mid 2007, fifteen issues were published under the sub-title, Gender, History and Culture in the Asian Context. In 2006, Anne-Marie resigned to focus her time on different interests… more